Singed
by Thetimetel
Summary: When some people from Johto decided to take a boat to the Unova region, they thought they were freed from the terrifying presence of Singed and his Houndoom. They Were Wrong
1. Warm Welcome

Hi, this is my first time uploading fan fiction to fanfiction. Pretty much, I wanted to give more character to my character in Pokemon Black, and . . . well, this is what I came up with.

Just so we're clear, I write in third-person. I don't like just giving one person's view of the entire story, so I will switch who's point of view the story is from quite often.

This first chapter is told from the Castelia's gym leader's point of view. His name's Burgh.

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><p>Burgh gnashed his teeth as the Team Plasma Grunts surrounding him all grinned. "It's simple, Burgh. If we steal all of the Gym Leader's Pokémon, then many trainers won't have a reason to catch more Pokémon. This will put a large dent in the number of Pokémon caught, and that means less Pokémon will suffer."<p>

Burgh grabbed out his Leavanny's pokéball, but he already knew he wouldn't win. There were just too many of these Grunts for him to beat. The Grunts all grinned as each one grabbed out a Pokéball, there had to be at least ten of them. A large crowd of people were watching with horrified eyes, and Burgh wasn't certain how he would-

"_**RUN! DON'T MAKE EYE CONTACT!**_"

Everyone turned in shock as a surprising number of people ran in their direction, all of them clearly in a panic as they dashed away from the ports. Before Burgh could flinch, the crowd from the port actually ran directly into the crowd, even bowling over quite a few of the Grunts. Burgh quickly used the distraction to slip out of the circle as the Grunts were caught in the stampede's path.

"We're sorry!"

Burgh turned in shock as a woman spoke to him. She clearly had been part of the crowd from the ports, and Burgh found himself grinning. "Actually, that was pretty good timing."

The woman shook her head and spoke more. "That doesn't change . . . look, we're _really_ sorry! I mean it, we really didn't . . ."

The woman was clearly worried, and Burgh gave a slight smile. "It's alright, I know it's hard to control a crowd."

Burgh frowned when the woman shook her head. "Look, we all need to move _now_!"

Burgh frowned as he looked towards the port. All he really saw out of the ordinary was a . . . what was it called . . . a Houndoom, yeah. There was a Houndoom walking next to a person, both headed in their direction. While the person was too far away right now to make out any features, Burgh was rather certain the person next to the Houndoom was male, possibly in his teens.

The woman got Burgh to flinch when she spoke, terror in her voice. "It's _him!_ He stowed away! We're so sorry, we didn't mean to bring him here!"

Burgh turned when he heard Pokémon being sent out. The Grunts had found him, and they had their Pokémon out now. One spoke, a grin on his face. "So you think you're getting away that easily? We're not going to let a mob stop us! We _will_ get your Pokémon!"

Burgh sent out his Leavanny. The group of Patrats, Purrloins, and Trubbish attacked Leavanny, but Leavanny dodged them again and again. Burgh knew he had to come up with something fast, he knew that Leavanny couldn't dodge them forever, but . . . ugh, what could he do? He only had three Pokémon at this time, he couldn't-

"What are you doing?"

Burgh turned to face the woman, who was looking at both Burgh and the Grunts like they were missing an obvious fact. The fight stopped for a bit as the Grunts spoke to the woman. "We are going to end the suffering of Pokémon. To that end-"

The woman shook her head. "Don't you _get it_? He's almost _here! _And yet everyone here is just . . . oh, no."

Burgh frowned as the Houndoom and its owner walked right between Burgh and the Grunts. Now that he was close, Burgh could see that he had been right. The Houndoom's owner was a young boy in his teens. His brown hair was a mess that reached his shoulders and his eyes, red and bloodshot, scanned the area with precision. As the boy looked at one Grunt's Patrat, the boy scrunched up his face in disgust. "What a _repulsive_ rodent."

As the boy walked past the Patrat he had insulted jumped at him. Before anyone could warn the boy the Patrat sunk its teeth into the boy's shoulder. At first the boy didn't react, but the woman did. "That's bad. This is very, very bad!"

As the boy slowly turned his head to face the Patrat he had a ferocious glare branded onto his expression. When he spoke, his voice was laced with poison. "That was a _big_ mistake."

The boy reached for the Patrat, which removed its teeth from the boy's flesh. Before it hit the ground, the boy suddenly, gracefully whipped his leg around, catching the Patrat mid-fall with his foot in its gut. As the Patrat flew backwards, the boy's Houndoom unleashed a searing Flamethrower, hitting the Patrat dead-on. After the Patrat fell to the ground unconscious it was called back into its pokéball. Burgh frowned as the boy changed directions, storming his way over to the owner of the Patrat.

The other Grunts got in the way, as did their Pokémon. One spoke up, clearly annoyed. "Who do you think you are, you brat?"

The boy chuckled as his Houndoom glared at the man. "My name is Singed. Don't tell me your name, I don't care about filth like you."

As the Grunt glared at Singed, Singed's Houndoom took a deep breath. With a furious _**'DOOM!'**_ the Houndoom sent out a large wave of sound.

The wave of sound slammed into each Pokémon the Grunts had out and flung them at their owners. Then the wave hit the Grunts, and blasted each of them off of their feet. In a horrifying show of its raw power, the wave of sound continued on, shattering a good deal of the windows that were on the building behind the Grunts. Burgh couldn't believe it. Was that . . . this Houndoom knew _Snarl!_

The boy chuckled cruelly as Houndoom leapt into the pile of Grunts, using Odor Sleuth. Soon, it grabbed a Grunt by the foot and dragged them out of the pile. After the Houndoom let go, the Grunt got up and brushed themselves off. However, the Grunt looked at Singed he found himself standing face-to-face with him.

Burgh gave a slight grin as he looked over at the woman. "That was _good_. I'm impressed, and here you were making him seem bad."

The woman gulped, never taking her eyes off of Singed. "He's not fighting them to help you. He got hurt, and he's _going_ to get his pound of flesh."

Burgh frowned until he heard the gagging. He turned to see a sight that took a few seconds to register. Singed had one of his scarred hands around the Grunt's throat, he was _suffocating _the Grunt! Using his grip on the Grunt, Singed forced the Grunt to bring his face closer to Singed. "_You_ own that rodent. Your _despicable rodent_ bit me. Do you _know_ the penalty for that?"

The Grunt was clearly terrified as Singed grinned cruelly. "To put it in terms _you_ would understand, the penalty is _pain_."

Singed suddenly released the Grunt's neck, but as the Grunt took a deep breath Singed brought back his left hand. Before the Grunt could react, Singed slammed his fist into the Grunt's face. As Burgh stared in shock and horror, the Grunt cried out in pain and put his hands to his face, blood flowing freely from his nose. Singed backed away, but Houndoom took a deep breath again. As Burgh realized what was about to happen, he stepped forwards. "_Stop!_"

Singed turned to face Burgh, and Houndoom instinctively turned its head to the side. When it tried to correct its mistake, the flamethrower it had been about to use erupted too fast, and missed the Grunt's face by inches. As Singed turned back to face the Grunt, the other nine Grunts quickly got in-between Singed and the injured Grunt. Singed gave a cruel smirk as he crossed his hands, clearly amused.

"Really? You think that will stop me? Well, I guess accidents happen. I'll stop for now, but only if you get out of my sight."

The Grunts backed away as Houndoom growled at them, soon breaking out into a sprint as Houndoom released a warning Flamethrower. That same Flamethrower struck a building, and as the fire quickly began to spread a trainer with a Panpour called it out to deal with the fire. Burgh turned when he heard the grunt, frowning as he found himself face-to-face with Singed. Singed had a cruel smirk on his face as he looked at Burgh. "Why did you stop me?"

Burgh no longer was questioning why the woman was trying to warn them to get out of Singed's way. As Singed waited for Burgh's answer, Burgh could almost feel Singed's rage at just about everything around him. Burgh knew he wasn't going to get out of this one unscathed, so he told the truth. "You were taking it too far. That Grunt never commanded its Pokémon to bite you."

Singed's smirk grew slightly. "True. However, he _owned_ the rodent that bit me. Are you saying he deserved to just be allowed to walk away unpunished?"

Burgh shook his head. "I'm not saying he shouldn't have been criticized. I'm saying that you shouldn't have punched him. You shouldn't have attempted to strangle him."

Singed's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Burgh barely had time to flinch as Singed's fist slammed into the side of Burgh's face. As Burgh fell down, quickly realizing he now had a nosebleed, he heard Singed chuckle. "I rest my case."

As Burgh got back to his feet, nursing his bleeding nose, he watched Singed walk away. The Houndoom stood at Singed's side as the two of them confidently walked towards Route 4. After everyone had seen how Singed dealt with people, they gave him all of their attention and a very generous amount of space.


	2. A Friendly Warning

This chapter's from Elesa's point of view. She runs the gym in Nimbasa city.

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><p>Elesa grinned as she watched over her Gym. She enjoyed watching the cars of the coasters zip by as she waited for challengers. Right now, no one was challenging her though. She chuckled as she spoke to herself. "Rather uneventful day today."<p>

As if in answer, her transceiver began to ring. After she looked at the ID, realizing it was Burgh, she then answered the call. She wasn't expecting to see Burgh in the state he was. He was tending to a nosebleed, and had a nasty bruise on his face. Elesa almost smiled, it looked like someone just hit Burgh. "Ouch Burgh, how'd you get that? It looks like someone just slugged you!"

She almost chuckled at that thought, but she was deeply startled when Burgh gave a weak smile. "That's actually what I'm calling about."

Wait was he . . . Elesa's eyes opened wide at the thought. "Someone _did_?"

Burgh nodded, grunting as he put an icepack against the bruise. "Yeah. I felt like you would appreciate a warning, the culprit's headed your way."

Elesa couldn't believe it. "What trainer slugs a Gym Leader after winning?"

Burgh shook his head. "He came here by boat from . . . hold on. Which region again?"

Elesa listened as a woman stated 'Johto'. Burgh gave a 'thanks' then turned to face Elesa again. "It's a teenage boy named Singed who travels with a Houndoom. According to one of the people from the boat, this boy has terrorized the Johto region for some time. I myself can vouch for the power his Houndoom possesses _and_ the strength that Singed possesses."

Elesa frowned. "Why did he hit you?"

Burgh gave a slight chuckle, but it was cut off by a grunt of pain. "I told him that he shouldn't slug someone in the face for anything they do that he doesn't like. Apparently he doesn't agree with me."

Elesa gave a small grin, but then shook her head. "There's a strong sandstorm in between Nimbasa City and Castelia City. He's traversing it with a Fire and Dark type?"

Burgh nodded. "His Houndoom's tough, Elesa. You'll want to warn the citizens to keep their distance. Singed has an itchy trigger finger."

Elesa frowned, but quickly spoke again to Burgh. "It is our duty as Gym Leaders to solve problems. Besides, I've got some time."

Burgh sighed as he looked at Elesa. "Okay, but I'm warning you that he's dangerous. Proceed with caution, his Houndoom's not afraid of attacking people and Singed is _more_ than willing to attack a person."

Elesa nodded. "Understood, thanks for the warning."

Burgh nodded then turned off his transceiver. Elesa walked over to one of the cars of her coaster, she was going to bring the fight to Singed. She almost chuckled, so much for an uneventful day.


	3. First Impressions

This chapter introduces a new character. For those confused with the lack of spoken words, this boy is a mute. He sees Singed, but 'the blue-eyed boy' identifies Singed as 'the red-eyed boy' because he doesn't know Singed's name.

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><p>The boy coughed as the wind blew past him. When he had been warned of a sandstorm, he hadn't expected it to be <em>this<em> bad. He actually was kind of excited, this was the first time that he had seen a sandstorm. The boy smiled as he heard a female voice in his head ask if he was alright, and he smiled at his Gardevoir. Being a mute, the boy always communicated with Gardevoir with his thoughts. He thought back to her that he was fine, but he wouldn't be if Gardevoir's reflect wasn't so efficient at blocking the sand. Gardevoir smiled back as the two of them continued walking.

The boy found nature to be so incredible. Even _sand_ was an efficient weapon in the creative hands of nature! The only problem the boy had was his make-shift crutch kept on trying to sink into the sand whenever he put his weight on it. Hmm, how long had it been since his leg had been crushed? Not that it mattered, this was a permanent injury. It was remarkable just how well his leg had healed from that, the bone had been in _quite_ a few pieces after that semi ran his leg over. He grinned as he remembered that trip to the hospital, It wasn't often that the doctors got a patient who couldn't remember their name, and one that no one in the town knew. Ah, that was fun.

When Gardevoir touched the boy's mind again the boy turned to face her. Gardevoir had a frown on her face, and she alerted the boy to the fact that someone was approaching them from in front. It didn't take long for that person to come into view, and the boy had to admit that this person looked . . . intimidating. The boy and his Houndoom were walking right through the sandstorm, neither one paying too much attention to the sand.

As they walked closer to the boy, both he and the other boy locked eyes for a moment. The blue-eyed boy learned a lot from what he saw. The red-eyed boy with the Houndoom had a furious rage within him, a rage born of something that had wronged him. What the boy first mistook as two black-eyes were truly bags under the red-eyed boy's eyes. It looked like he didn't get much sleep anymore.

In return, the red-eyed boy appeared mildly interested in the blue-eyed boy. It was more a passing glance, but as they passed each other the two of them locked eyes again. In the red-eyed boy, the blue-eyed one saw torture, a trauma so strong it could change one's entire personality. The blue-eyed boy felt sympathy for the red-eyed boy, while it was clear he was dangerous, it didn't appear to be entirely his fault.

The boy then looked at the Houndoom, and marveled at its well-groomed fur. Unlike its owner, the Houndoom was very well taken care of. Yet in its eyes was the same fire its owner shared, both of them had been wronged by the world and they were dead-set on showing the world the error of its ways.

Then the red-eyed boy turned to face the path in front of him, and just as abruptly as they had appeared the boy and his Houndoom vanished into the sandstorm. Gardevoir immediately touched the blue-eyed boy's mind, and stated that she had seen pain in the other boy's eyes. The blue-eyed boy agreed, and thought that it would be best to not upset them.

With a nod of agreement, Gardevoir and the boy resumed their path through the sandstorm. The boy was curious in what he had learned, apparently somewhere in this region was a place known as the Dreamyard. The boy was fascinated with the name, and wanted to see what it looked like. But even as they continued on their way, they both thought about the red-eyed boy. What could cause a person so much pain, so much horror, that it could make the person feel that much rage?


	4. Quid Quo Pro

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this!

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><p>Elesa gnashed her teeth as Team Plasma made their speech. How could they believe what they were saying! "I ask you now, people of Nimbasa City, what choice have we given to Pokémon? We capture them after hurting them to the point that they can no longer resist and then we <em>force<em> them to fight their brethren! Does this truly sound like the right thing to do? The very act of _obtaining_ a Pokémon for our 'collections' is violent, and even there the Pokémon gets no choice in the matter."

Elesa stepped forwards. "Hold on. Many Pokémon trainers treat their Pokémon well, and the Pokémon couldn't imagine being without their trainers. It's a bond we form with our Pokémon, we live with them in harmony."

Much of the crowd agreed with her, but the Team Plasma members simply shook their heads. "How could you think this? We treat Pokémon as _slaves_, what choice do they have? The only humane thing to do is to free them, how could they be happy with us? Join Team Plasma and free the Pokémon."

The hair on the back of Elesa's neck stood on end as she heard a cruel chuckle. "Free the Pokémon?"

Each and every head turned to a young boy with brown hair and red eyes. Elesa didn't even need to see the Houndoom to know this was Singed. However, Singed walked towards the stands and spoke to the Grunts. "Pretty words, but you talk about choices when all your group has are _thieves_ and _rodents?_"

The Team Plasma member grinned at Singed. "Well, it appears we misunderstood you Singed, just as you misunderstand us. After your violent attack against one of our own for something that wasn't truly his fault, I assumed you wouldn't use reason."

Singed gave a cruel grin as he walked up to the speaker, the two of them both wearing cruel grins as they continued their battle with words.

Singed spoke next, his voice calm yet his words laced with poison. "Wasn't truly his fault? You mean to tell me that because he has taught his Patrat only how to rebel against humans, he is not at fault? And that's another thing, if you are so dead set on 'freeing the Pokémon', _why_ are you using Pokémon yourselves?"

The Grunt Singed was talking too cringed as the crowd sided with Singed. Singed chuckled cruelly as he turned around. "Pretty words lose their charm when spoken through the lips of a deceiver."

As Singed walked away, Elesa had to admit Singed didn't exactly seem . . . all that bad. However, every head turned when the Grunt spoke again. "I could say the same thing about you, Singed. We currently have a member of ours that reported you almost _strangling_ him. Also, if I remember correctly his Patrat bit you only after you stated how it was a repulsive rodent. Even when we retreated, you then introduced your fist to Burgh's face, if I'm correct?"

Singed chuckled cruelly as he turned to face the Grunt. "You remember correctly, yet you _still_ insist on insulting me? You have guts, but if you keep that up those guts will be spilling out onto the ground."

The Grunt gulped as Elesa shuddered. Singed certainly had a way with words, although he was disproving his own point. Eventually, the Grunt spoke again. "So what about your Houndoom?"

Singed froze, and his expression turned dark. "Are you actually stating that I do not treat Houndoom with the respect she deserves?"

The Grunt gave a slight shrug. "Actually, I'm making a connection here. Could your attempts to prove us wrong be because you can't accept the fact that Houndoom's miserable around you?"

Singed gnashed his teeth as Houndoom took a deep breath. The Grunt continued to speak. "Let's face the-"

"_**DOOM!**_"

Elesa and the crowd watched in shock as a large wave of sound escaped from the Houndoom's mouth, and even Singed looked shocked as the wave slammed into Team Plasma's members, tossing each one of them back quite some distance before they hit the ground. Singed chuckled as Team Plasma's members stared at him in shock. "From how quick she was to defend me? I have to say I'm doing a good job with taking care of her."

Houndoom gave Singed a look that only proved him right, Elesa had never seen a Pokémon look at their trainer with so much devotion. However, the scene quickly gave way to horror as the two of them turned as one to look at the Grunts, both with evil grins. "And if you remember, we don't take too kindly to insults."

Houndoom and Singed charged at the Grunts, Houndoom soon sending out a fierce flamethrower that set many of the Grunts on fire. As much as Elesa dreaded it, she knew she had to intervene. "Singed, stop!"

Singed and Houndoom turned to face Elesa, and as she had their attention the Grunts fled. When Singed looked back and realized that, his look turned furious. "That's the _second_ time someone's gotten in the way of us delivering punishment to them!"

Elesa grabbed out Zebstrika's pokéball and let Zebstrika out. Elesa grinned as Zebstrika got ready to fight. "I'm better than Burgh, Singed."

Singed chuckled as Houndoom again took a deep breath.

"_**DOOM!**_"

Elesa couldn't believe it as Zebstrika was flung into the air by the wave of sound, and she soon found herself joining Zebstrika in the air. The two of them landed hard, Elesa cringed at the landing. One look at Zebstrika told her that it was knocked out, and she recalled it. She got up, and froze when she heard the chuckle behind her.

It was only through fast reflexes that Elesa blocked Singed's fist, but the force of it caused her to cringe. Singed was _strong! _Singed gave a large grin as he let his arms go limp, both going back to his sides. "Well, you're better than Burgh. He didn't have the reflexes required to block it. I must admit, I'm impressed. You've earned yourself a freebie."

As Singed turned around, headed for Route 5, Elesa and the crowd watched him go. His Houndoom stayed next to him, clearly proud of its master's strength. Elesa turned on her transceiver and called Clay. "Clay, he's headed in your direction. Watch out for his Houndoom, it's stronger than it looks."


	5. The Duel

This was my first time trying to mimic an accent, it's hard to make a thick accent that's still readable

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><p>Clay could only grin in excitement as he got onto the bridge. So Singed had gotten past Elesa without much trouble. No matter, Clay specialized in Ground-type Pokémon. Singed wouldn't stand a chance. As Clay raced down the bridge, he grinned wider as he saw Singed getting on the bridge. Clay had to admit, Singed certainly did have that tough-guy look, but he would be <em>darned<em> before he let Singed enter Driftveil without a fight.

"Singed!"

The boy looked at Clay with amusement as his Houndoom grinned cruelly. "Howdy partner. I'm guessing you're not giving me the deed to the city?"

Clay gave a grin of his own as he grabbed out his Krokorok's pokéball. "Name's Clay. Singed, I challenge yeh to a duel. I win, yeh get yer ugly mug off a' my turf. Yeh win, ah can't stop yeh."

Singed chuckled, then looked down at his Houndoom. "Your choice Houndoom. Should we humor him?"

Houndoom grinned and got into a fighting stance. Singed nodded as he turned to face Clay. "Very well, Clay. We'll play by your rules."

Houndoom nodded as Clay tossed Krokorok's pokéball up into the air. "I ain't gonna go easy on yeh!"

Singed flinched as Krokorok came out of his pokéball. As Singed cocked his head, looking unsure of the Pokémon in front of him, Clay grinned even wider. Singed must have never seen a Krokorok before. As Krokorok grinned at Houndoom, Clay chuckled. "My Gym's th' ground-type, Singed. Krokorok here's Ground _and_ Dark type."

Singed cringed at that. "Damn, this just got bad _fast_. What say you, Houndoom?"

Houndoom grinned as it got into a fighting stance. Singed sighed then grinned. "Very well, there's nothing wrong with a challenge."

Clay grinned, Singed sure didn't scare easily. "Oh, this is gonna be _more_ than a match for yeh. Ah 'll be nice n' let yeh have th' first move."

Singed gave a slight grin, but it was clear he was truly worried. "Let's see here . . . alright, how about a snarl Houndoom?"

Houndoom grinned as it took a deep breath. Clay couldn't believe it, Houndoom knew _snarl!_ But as Houndoom released the powerful wave of noise, Krokorok barely even stumbled. Clay grinned as Singed cringed. "Krokorok, use bulldozer!"

Krokorok grinned as he slammed his foot into the bridge, causing the entire bridge to shake as Houndoom was launched all the way off of the bridge with a startled yelp. Singed's eyes went wide as he looked at Houndoom, but Clay was startled when Houndoom landed neatly on its feet. It was clearly hurt, but still standing. But as Singed gulped, Clay grinned. He had this won, Houndoom couldn't match Krokorok. Singed gulped again but without prompt Houndoom charged back onto the bridge. Singed nodded at Houndoom. "Crunch!"

Krokorok tried to avoid it, but Houndoom slammed its jaws shut on Krokorok's tail. Even then, Krokorok didn't look all that hurt. Clay grinned as fire leapt from Houndoom's mouth, she was giving it all she had. But it wasn't enough. "Krokorok, shake 'er off!"

Krokorok moved quickly, whipping its tail forwards. Houndoom was immediately launched off of Krokorok's tail and ended on the steps leading onto the bridge. Krokorok grinned as Clay commanded a crunch. As Krokorok launched itself into the air, it opened its jaws wide.

"_**NO!**_"

Both Krokorok and Clay were completely startled when Singed dashed over to Houndoom, _deliberately_ putting himself in Krokorok's path. Krokorok tried to stop, and Clay tried to recall him, but it was too late. Krokorok slammed right into Singed's back, who gave a cry of pain as he forced himself, and Krokorok by extension, to land off of his injured Houndoom.

Clay called Krokorok back, and quickly went over. It looked pretty bad. Singed had taken quite a hit from Krokorok and was unable to stand by himself. However, he didn't try. Instead, he stayed near his injured Houndoom, tears in his eyes as he looked the other way. Clay soon nodded to himself, enemy or not Singed needed help.

Five minutes later, Clay set the injured Houndoom down next to a tree. Singed, who had been leaning on Clay to stand, changed to lean on the tree. For a bit, he looked Houndoom over, and Clay spoke. "Ah can't say much fer ya Singed, but ah _can_ say that Ah've never met someone willin' to take that strong of a hit fer their Pokémon."

Singed gave a weak smile, but then sighed. "I shouldn't have agreed. She didn't have a _chance_, she only knows one fire-type move, two dark-type, and Odor Sleuth. None of those would do much against a Ground and Dark type."

As Clay handed Singed a hyper-potion, Singed gave a 'thanks' and began gently looking Houndoom over, spraying every wound he found. Clay gave a sigh. "Why'd yeh take th' hit for her? Ah 'm not sayin' it wasn't noble, ah mean why didn't yeh just call her back to her pokéball?"

Singed gave a grin as he looked up at Clay. "She doesn't have one. I don't even know how to work a pokéball."

Clay frowned. "Then how's yeh a trainer?"

Singed shook his head. "I'm not a trainer. I refuse to accept being called 'master', she is . . . she's all I have left."

Clay frowned at that, but didn't push for details. Singed was still irked at his self for having agreed to the fight, this wasn't the time to ask about how he came to be. "B' why do yeh two attack others?"

Singed frowned, but at that moment Houndoom came too. Singed immediately looked at Houndoom as Houndoom looked up at him, her shame-filled eyes meeting with his. Singed gently told her that she had done her best, and that it was his fault for not refusing. Clay grinned as Houndoom shook her head. "Well, I'll be. Both of yeh shield the other from everythin'!"

Singed grinned. "That's probably the best way to explain it. I just . . . I can't stand seeing her get hurt. We both are there for each other, and we want to keep it that way. Anyone that dares to harm one will enrage both of us, and that _includes _insults."

Clay grinned, so _that_ was it. "Alright then Singed. I'll level with yeh. So long as yeh try t' keep yer itchy trigger fingers from firin', y' can enter Driftveil."

Singed and Houndoom both looked up in shock then looked at each other. As Clay turned to leave, he grinned. What he wanted to know was why Singed had been labeled evil even though his one goal, to defend his Houndoom, was actually a noble one.


	6. A Destination Sought

Alder frowned as he listened to Clay. "Ah told him so long as he behaves himself, 'e may come here." Alder nodded, that sounded quite reasonable. "Quite right, he should be given a chance to prove himself. I'll keep an eye on him, I want to see what people keep on doing that's setting him off." Clay nodded as he went back to his gym.

It didn't take long for Singed to appear. He was still hurt, but his Houndoom looked good as new. Almost the instant Singed appeared, the populace began to notice him. Because of the warnings sent via transceivers, many people gave him quite a bit of distance. Singed himself clearly preferred it that way, but then one person who apparently didn't get that message asked another why everyone was acting so strange.

The other person, _in front of everyone and VERY audibly_, stated that Singed was a heartless bastard that enjoyed torturing others. Alder got up, but walked over slowly. That gave Singed enough time to slug that person, which Alder believed was well-deserved. Once Singed tried to follow up though, Alder quickly got in the way. He knew he was going to become Singed's next target, but he _did_ have to protect the populace as well.

So when Singed and his Houndoom backed up, clearly alarmed, Alder was quite surprised to say the least. Maybe it was Clay defeating Houndoom before? Or did Singed realize a fight with Alder was a fight Singed couldn't win? When Alder raised his eyebrow, Singed gave a slight grin. "There's a difference between delivering punishment and just being stupid. A fight with you would be _quite_ different than a guaranteed win."

Alder grinned. Singed knew that he just couldn't win a fight against Alder. Alder used this time to look Singed over. While Houndoom growled, Alder walked around them. Singed wasn't going to argue, but he definitely tried to keep an eye on Alder. Alder had to respect Singed's careful eye, although he noticed it appeared to be directed much more to keeping his Houndoom safe instead of himself. Eventually, Alder found a way to get Singed's respect. "Hmm . . . you know Singed, we have this one place in our region called the Dreamyard. Perhaps you would like to visit it?"

Singed frowned, as Alder had expected him to. "I beg your pardon? Do I _look_ like a tourist?" Alder grinned. "I apologize, I don't mean to come off as demanding. There are some . . . unusual Pokémon that appear there. Purrloins are quite common, cats that like thievery. If you're lucky, you could find an Audino, a Pokémon that is well known for healing. Hmm, what else was there . . . ah! There's also Munna, which are quite unusual creatures. Munna have an unusual diet, they eat the dreams of people near them. A person with their dreams eaten won't remember them when they-"

As he expected, Singed's eyes opened wide. "Which way leads to the Dreamyard?" Alder grinned as he handed Singed a map, then stood next to him. "We are here" Alder pointed to Driftveil on the map. "To get to the Dreamyard, you have to go through Nimbasa City, Castelia City, Nacrene City, and then finally Striaton City. The Dreamyard's to the right of the Gym, you can't miss it. You can keep the map, I've got more."

Singed immediately thanked him, and Alder smiled as Singed immediately took off, Houndoom following Singed. Houndoom then turned around, and got Alder to smile when she gave a slight bow to him. He nodded his head in return. "You're welcome." Houndoom then put on a burst of speed, both Singed and Houndoom quickly heading for the bridge. When Alder turned around, he chuckled at the looks he was being given. He didn't bother to explain it to them.

Instead, Alder turned on his transceiver, messaging Burgh, Cilan, and Lenora. They picked up almost immediately, and Alder got down to business. "Singed is headed for the Dreamyard with all haste. _Do, not, try, to, stop, him_. He wants to get there _fast_ with no interruptions, and the consequences for doing so would be _dire_."

Alder grinned as he heard Burgh's confused voice. "Uh, ok?" Soon Cilan spoke up. "Why does he want to go to the Dreamyard?" Alder gave a grin at that. "I told him about some of the Pokémon living there, and I struck gold. Tell the public to keep out of his way, and _warn_ them that he is set off by insults. He won't strike if he doesn't feel insulted."

Soon, Lenora gave an 'understood' and turned hers off. Cilan soon did as well, but Burgh looked the other way. Alder frowned. "Burgh." Once he had Burgh's attention, Alder gave a sympathetic smile. "You just have to learn how he thinks. He's devoted to Houndoom's safety and joy, _anything_ that interrupts that _will_ be punished." Burgh looked the other way. "All I did was I told Singed to stop, how did that set him off?"

Alder nodded. "That's just it. You _told_ him to stop. He's sick of not having control over his own life, so telling him to do something will set him off. Give him a choice, _ask_ him to stop. If I had _told_ him to go to the Dreamyard, I would have had my face burnt off. Instead, I _suggested_ he go there, and I gave him reasons why." Burgh flinched then gave a slight grin. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind."


	7. Well, That's Just Rude

This is likely to be THE shortest chapter in the entire story. Don't think too hard about it, it's more to show how Singed and Houndoom will act when they're determined.

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><p>Elesa turned when she heard the cries of shock. "<em><strong>HE'S BACK!<strong>_" She found herself grinning as she grabbed out Zebstrika's Pokéball and Emolga's Pokéball. Singed wouldn't get her by surprise this time! As Elesa prepared herself, she soon saw Singed and Houndoom round the corner. They both looked mildly amused to see Elesa, but Elesa called out her Pokémon quickly. "You won't find me so easy to beat this-"

Singed rolled his eyes as he and Houndoom approached. "Skip it, we're in a hurry." Elesa could only flinch as Singed and Houndoom walked right past her. Almost before she could turn around, the two of them were entering the gate between Nimbasa City and Route 4. What . . . Elesa grabbed out her transceiver and contacted Burgh. "Singed just . . . he just passed me like I wasn't even there!"

Burgh gave a small grin. "I _just_ got done speaking to Alder. He told us not to get in Singed's way, and that Singed is headed for the Dreamyard with _quite_ a bit of haste." Elesa froze. "What . . . why didn't anyone tell me of this!" Burgh gave a shrug. "Hey, transceivers only can do 4-way calls. You just happened to be number five."


	8. Through My Eyes

This is the first chapter from Singed's point of view.

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><p>Singed cringed as he saw the sandstorm. Oh, this was going to be <em>fun<em>, he _loved_ walking blind through the blasted blizzard of sand! "Hound?" Singed sighed as he shook his head. "Sorry Houndoom, just having memories." Houndoom grinned. "Hound doom doom hound hound." Singed grinned as he mentally translated Houndoom's words. "Yeah, the sandstorm's gotten worse."

The two of them resumed walking, and Singed turned his head as the stinging sand assaulted him. A growl from Houndoom told him that she was enjoying this as little as he was. "At least in Johto, we didn't have to worry about this." Houndoom nodded in agreement as the two of them continued through the sandstorm.

The going was rough, and it broke Singed's heart to see Houndoom suffer like this, but the two of them bared it. It felt like hours passed, hours of being pelted by sand and hours of trekking through a desert. When the two of them saw the gate, they both sighed in relief. As they entered the gate, the person working the gate gulped in fear. "Uh-uh . . ."

Singed rolled his eyes. Normally he'd deck the moron for being so cowardly, but right now . . . "You have five-hundred yen I can borrow?" The person nodded frantically and soon held out _quite_ a bit more then Singed asked for. Singed took the _correct _amount out of the person's hands. "As a sign of thanks, I won't harm you." The man gulped, but Singed had already put them out of his mind. He had the money, and . . . ah, _there_ was the vending machine. Houndoom gave a groan but it only got Singed to grin. "You're not getting out of it like that, Houndoom."

Houndoom grumbled as Singed ordered a water bottle, and when the vending machine gave it to him Singed popped the cap off. Houndoom grumbled again, getting Singed to chuckle when she turned around and waited with her eyes shut. Singed soon wet his hands and gently rubbed Houndoom, getting a very fine coat of water on her. Once it was, he grabbed out a brush and gently scrubbed her fur.

Houndoom looked back with a grin. "Hound hound. Doom hound doom _doom_." Singed gave a slight grin. "I told you it would just take some practice, Houndoom. Better?" Houndoom gave a content hum as her reply, getting Singed to chuckle. Once he was done, he shook his head as he looked at the floor. He couldn't believe how much sand had gotten caught in Houndoom's fur, but at least she was clean now. Houndoom looked back at him, and asked how she looked. Singed smiled at her. "I'd criticize you for being vain, but I think that pride would be _very_ well deserved." Houndoom smiled back at Singed, and soon the two of them walked into Castelia town.

Their hope for no interruptions was almost immediately shattered. A good-sized crowd of people were standing behind the clown named Burgh, like they were looking for shelter behind the person Singed had already beaten once. More importantly, _more_ crowds were blocking most of the streets. At first, the crowd looked expectantly at Burgh, who looked extremely flustered. Ugh, well if they weren't going to get done anytime soon . . . "what? I'm in a hurry, so can we speed this up a bit?"

The crowd looked expectantly at Burgh, and Singed was starting to lose his patience. However, Houndoom suddenly spoke to him, and what she said sent shudders up Singed's spine. "No, that can't be right Houndoom." Houndoom cocked her head, and Singed grinned. "Because if that _was_ right, then I could see a good number of people that would be put on my hit-list. Let's start counting . . ." Singed pointed a finger at one person in one of the crowds and said 'one'. He then went through each crowd, labeling everyone as a potential target. When he got done all of the people there were pure-white.

Houndoom grinned at Singed, complimenting him on just how quick he caught on. Singed chuckled, and spoke to Burgh. "I'm going to ask you a question, Burgh. Is this a challenge? Because I don't _like_ challenges, and we may just _kill_ said challenger." Burgh gulped, and looked back at the crowd with an almost _pleading _look. The crowd gulped, but stood there, and Singed could no longer contain himself.

"I don't believe this! You all _disgust _me! Are you honestly _forcing_ him to challenge me!" The crowds suddenly paled as Singed advanced. "You despicable _cowards_! You get _one_ enemy and you all immediately hide behind _one_ person! I have a word for people that do that!" As the crowd eyed Singed, Houndoom got ready.

"_**DOOM!**_" Singed grinned as Houndoom blasted one of the groups off of their feet with a powerful snarl, and soon each and every person-besides for Burgh-took off running. As Burgh stood there, with his heart clearly racing, Singed grinned. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people that force others to do their dirty work. Unless you get in our way at the moment Burgh, you need not fear us." Both Singed and Houndoom left it at that, going through the town.

Once they were at the gate, Singed grinned. Two towns down, only . . . two more to go. This was going to be a breeze. Alright, next up was Skyarrow Bridge? Singed grabbed out the map, getting down low so Houndoom could look at it as well. "Alright, we must be here" Singed pointed to the blue dot that indicated their position. Both he and Houndoom flinched as the dot Singed put his finger on turned red. As Singed removed his finger from the dot, it went back to the bluish color it was before. "Huh. Pretty cool, I wonder if that's made to record a person's path."

Shaking off the odd occurrence, Singed followed the map with his finger. "Yeah, next up is the Skyarrow Bridge, then Pinwheel forest. After that is Nacrene city, followed by Route 3. After that is Striaton City, then finally it's the Dreamyard. Shouldn't be too hard to strike a deal with a Munna, right?" Houndoom nodded with a grin, and as Singed rolled up the map he chuckled. "Of course, if they need a little persuasion, that shouldn't be too difficult. Dream-Eater's a Psychic type move. As such Munna is likely a Psychic type."

With a nod from Houndoom, the two of them walked out of the gate to Skyarrow Bridge. At first, Singed was slightly blinded by the light, had they really been in the gate for that long? It only took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, but when they did . . . "What . . . you have to be _kidding_ me!" Both Houndoom and Singed could only stare in shock at the amount of steps before them.

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><p>Hey, have you SEEN that area the Skyarrow bridge connects to Castelia city? We are KILLING our characters there! :P<p> 


	9. Nice One, Grace

The boy cringed as his leg screamed in protest. The walk up those stairs had really agitated his leg and right now it wasn't happy with him. Eventually the boy admitted defeat and came to a stop, resting against the guardrail of the bridge. He smiled as he looked around him, this bride was _huge_! He must have been up here for _hours_, and yet the end of the bridge was only just now in sight. At least he was making progress, he thought with a smile.

"_**RUN! RUN! HE'S CATCHING UP!**_" The blue-eyed boy flinched as he turned his head. A large amount of people were dashing away from Castelia city and the blue-eyed boy was almost knocked off of the bridge when the people raced past him. It took a good deal of balance and luck to keep from being knocked over the guardrail by the crowd. Once they passed, the boy resumed his original state, resting against the guardrail as his leg slowly calmed down.

What in Hoenn got them to panic like that? The boy turned, and saw the culprits almost immediately. The red-eyed boy and his Houndoom were approaching, both of them looking angered. The blue-eyed boy couldn't outrun them. His leg was still recovering from the walk. However, he didn't fear them. He _did_ notice that both the red-eyed boy and his Houndoom appeared to be irritated though. Soon, the red-eyed boy reached the blue-eyed one.

As they did, their eyes met. The red-eyed boy's eyes issued a challenge. They _dared_ the blue-eyed boy to say anything cruel or hurtful. Of course though, the blue-eyed boy was a mute. He couldn't say anything. As such, he smiled at the red-eyed boy, trying to get it across to him that the blue-eyed boy didn't mean any harm.

The red-eyed boy's reaction got the blue-eyed boy by surprise. With an audible gasp of shock the red-eyed boy actually took a few steps backwards. As his Houndoom looked up at the red-eyed boy in alarm, the red-eyed boy spoke. "I-it's nothing, Houndoom. I . . ." The red-eyed boy looked back at the eyes of the blue-eyed boy, and the blue-eyed boy saw the red-eyed boy's clear confusion. They didn't maintain eye-contact for long though, soon the red-eyed boy broke the eye-contact and continued down the bridge.

When the blue-eyed boy realized his leg was better, he decided to continue his journey to Pinwheel forest. It wasn't too long before he saw a large bend in the bridge, making one downward spiral before it ended with a much smaller number of stairs. The red-eyed boy was half-way down that spiral, speaking to his Houndoom and still looking confused.

As the blue-eyed boy approached the spiral, the red-eyed boy reached the stairs down to the gate. For a moment the blue-eyed boy tried to avoid looking at the red-eyed boy, but when he heard the commotion he looked back down. Apparently the red-eyed boy had missed the steps because he was now tumbling down the stairs. The blue-eyed boy cringed as the red-eyed boy hit the back of his head against the ground, coming to a stop next to a person that was apparently tying their shoes.

The person jumped, and backed up the stairs as they spoke. The red-eyed boy glared at the person then spoke with a voice filled with anger. "What are _you_ lookin' at!" The person that had been tying their shoes, a boy with black hair, now dashed up those steps, and the blue-eyed boy was impressed when about thirty seconds later, the black-haired boy was dashing past the blue-eyed boy. The blue-eyed boy grinned as he continued his journey, eventually reaching the steps a good five minutes after the red-eyed boy stormed into the gate.


	10. When Worlds Collide

Singed rubbed the back of his head as he walked into the gate. Houndoom was snickering, commenting on Singed's lack of balance. They both stopped speaking to each other when they found quite a few people in the gate, all of them wide-eyed. Singed recognized them as the group he had seen on the bridge. After he walked past them, it only took one glare to send them dashing back to the bridge. Singed chuckled, it was ridiculous how easy that was. Singed took one look at the screen, half-heartedly reading part of a warning. 'TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS IF TRAVELING THROUGH PINWHEEL'

Singed didn't have the patience to read the rest of it, besides he knew what it must have meant. He was impressed that they had gotten out the warning for his location that fast, though. With no more thought about the warning the two of them left the gate in order to go into Pinwheel forest. He and Houndoom quickly began to travel through, using the road as their guide. Singed at first noted how empty the road was, but then remembered the warning. It was strange though, only a few hours ago he had learned of the Dreamyard. Oh, whatever.

Houndoom soon looked up at Singed, and spoke. Singed roughly translated it to 'what did the boy with blue eyes do?', and Singed sighed. "I really don't know. I just . . . he _smiled_ at me. I-it's been so long since I've seen another person do that . . ." Houndoom gave Singed a smile, and didn't push the matter. Singed really was grateful for Houndoom, she meant so much to him. Ever since he had found himself alone, Houndoom was the one that helped him through everything.

Singed refused to make a decision without knowing if it was what Houndoom wanted him to do, she just meant that much to him. When Singed heard the grass behind him rustle, he didn't think much of it. It was just a curious Pokémon. It wouldn't be stupid enough to fight. It was a bit before he realized Houndoom had stopped walking, and he soon went back to see her giving a low growl at the grass. "What is it Houndoom?"

Houndoom stated that she was starting to wonder if the warning really _was_ for Singed, which got Singed's attention. "You think that whatever is in that grass is the reason for the warning?" Houndoom nodded, and Singed wondered . . . Houndoom's sense of smell was _far_ better than Singed's. "So what do you think we should do?" Houndoom made her answer obvious when she glared at the grass. Singed got the idea, and stood next to Houndoom, both of them keeping the grass in their sights. He spoke to whatever was hiding in the grass. "_Show yourself!_"

The grass went quiet, but just when Singed was wondering if it was the wind a figure rose from the grass. Singed had never seen this creature, it was some sort of large serpent. Its skin looked much like an impressive set of robes. The creature's white head even appeared to be part of royalty, and the vicious gleam in its eyes matched the same gleam Singed saw whenever he looked at his own reflection.

The serpent gave a cold, hard glare of pure fury to Singed and Houndoom. When it spoke, Singed was almost convinced the voice itself could poison an enemy. "_Serperior!_" Ah, so that was its name. This was called a Serperior. Houndoom immediately readied a snarl. However, the Serperior moved too fast for Houndoom to hit it, the tip of the Serperior's tail twitched as the Snarl missed. The Serperior grinned as its tail began to glow a vibrant green, and Singed was shocked when the Serperior used Leaf Blade on Houndoom.

While it was a Grass-type move, meaning it shouldn't have had such a deadly effect on Houndoom, Singed could only watch in shock as Houndoom went flying into the forest. Then the Serperior turned around, and Singed quickly tried to dart past it. The Serperior expected that though, and Singed earned a hard hit to the gut from the Serperior's tail. As he rolled to a stop, he cursed. Singed had to make sure Houndoom was ok, he couldn't let himself fail her!

The Serperior chuckled cruelly as Singed got slapped on the side of his head by the Serperior's tail. So that was how it was going to be. As the Serperior tried to follow up, Singed caught the tail and grinned cruelly at the startled Serperior. "Very well, if you're going to attack then I'll fight back!" Singed let go of the Serperior's tail and aimed his fist at the creature's head.

The Serperior dodged him, its vicious glare back as its tail began to glow yet again. Singed acted quickly. Before the Serperior could dodge again Singed slammed his fist into the right side of Serperior's head. As the Serperior cried out in pain and shock Singed followed up with a strong kick to the other side of the Serperior's head. Before it could recover from the hit, Singed wrapped his arms around the Serperior's neck and held on tight. The Serperior, clearly enraged now, attempted multiple times to throw Singed off. However Singed refused to let it, there was too much at stake to let it win!

It felt like hours before the Serperior grew exhausted of fighting, taking deep breaths as Singed did as well. It was only when the Serperior suddenly grinned that Singed realized it had thought of a way to get him off. Singed's eyes opened wide as Serperior began to glow, the glow soon extending to Singed. He only realized after the attack started that this was Giga Drain. He felt his strength slipping away through his hands, into the Serperior. The Serperior's expression turned cruel as Singed shuddered.

The attack took forever for Singed. Once it was done, he unwillingly let go and fell to the ground, no longer having the strength to stand. As he weakly coughed, he heard the Serperior chuckle. He looked up into its eyes, and was certain he saw death looking back at him. The Serperior's tail began to glow again, and Singed knew he wouldn't be able to stop it. But as the tail closed in on Singed's face, a large fire-ball came into view and slammed into the Serperior. As the Serperior went flying through the air, unconscious even before it landed, Singed looked at the Pokémon that had saved him.

It wasn't Houndoom, he knew that the instant he saw the fire-ball. Houndoom didn't know Flare Blitz. This Pokémon though . . . he knew it from Johto. Not this specific one, but . . . but he knew a Rapidash when he saw one. However, he didn't get to see it for long. That Giga drain had taken just about all of his energy, and he soon lost the fight to stay conscious.


	11. Dog Days

O.k, a few things to note first. This IS supposed to be here, and YES it's from first-person view. When Singed passed out, he began reliving a memory. I do memories in first person. This is how he first met Houndour, and shows WHY he can understand the Pokemon language.

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><p>I smiled as mom and I entered the shelter. It was my 8th birthday, and as mom had promised me all year we were finally going to get a pet! As we entered the shelter, a nice man with a funny mustache welcomed us. As mom told the man about it being my birthday, he smiled at me. "Alright, what you looking for?" I smiled. "I want a Growlithe."<p>

The man smiled as he led me into the room behind him. "Ok, kid. Let's see, I know there were some back here somewhere . . ." As he led me through the area, I saw a lot of Pokémon that immediately came up to the bars of their caged areas. I was fascinated, many of these Pokémon I had never even _heard_ about.

When we passed one of the cages, I flinched. This was the first empty cage that . . . no, back there in the corner there was a Pokémon facing the wall. I had never seen that Pokémon before, it looked like a black dog. Two cool silver things were on its back, and it had one on each foot. Its head was turned towards the wall, but it looked really sad. "Hmm?" I flinched as I looked up to see the man looking at me. "Is something wrong?" I nodded over to the Pokémon. "It's just . . . that doggy looks so sad."

The doggy looked at me, and I saw tears in its eyes before it returned to looking at the wall. The man looked into the cage then spotted the doggy. "Ah, her. She's a Houndour. We don't know much about her, she was brought in after someone found her scavenging from their garbage. We think she was abandoned by her trainer."

I looked up at the man in shock. "A-abandoned? That's just mean!" The man nodded. "She's always so sad, I haven't seen her move from that spot other than to take a few bites of food. We really hope we can find a way to cheer her up, but . . ." The man sighed then shook his head. "Alright, we keep Growlithes a little farther in."

I looked back at the Houndour, but . . . eventually, I sighed. I had told all my friends I was going to get a Growlithe so I couldn't just choose a Houndour because I felt bad for her, right? But still . . . "I-is there a way I can just . . . go in there for a little bit?"

The man gave a smile, but then frowned. "Well, we don't know how she would react to kids. She doesn't act mean around adults, but . . . hmm, hold on for a bit." As the man went and spoke to mom, I looked at the Houndour. I felt really bad for it, but . . . I had to focus, I wanted a Growlithe, right?

"Dour?" I came back to the present, and flinched when I found the Houndour's face a few inches from my own. It looked sad and I soon gulped. I looked right and left, but I didn't see anyone. This was my secret and I didn't want _anyone _knowing about it. Even my _parents_ didn't know about it.

When I was five, I had wandered into the forest. For about three days, I had stayed there, alone, lost, and scared. I had never met a Pokémon up close until then. On the third day, I made friends with a Pidgeotto. It showed me the way out then flew off before mommy and daddy could see it. But that wasn't the last time I saw it. Every night for over five months afterwards, it flew over to my bedroom window.

At first, I only heard it saying its name weirdly. But by the first month, I realized it was calling me 'geotto'. The last time I saw it, I found myself understanding what it was saying. It said it was going to fly away to Kanto, that it wanted to see its family again. I had cried when I saw it fly off, but I never told my parents afterwards why I was so sad.

Then . . . that morning, I heard on the news that a Pidgeotto had been found next to a telephone line, dead. They believed it was flying at night, which they mentioned was strange, so it couldn't see the telephone line until it was too late. I knew why it was flying at night. It had wanted to say goodbye to a good friend, something it could only do in private if it was night.

"Dour hound hound?" I sighed as I came out of my thoughts. I hadn't done this in a while because I usually try to keep my ability to understand the Pokémon language a secret. Let's see here . . . Dour hound hound . . . where . . . where am . . . that meant 'where am I?' I smiled at the Houndour. "You're at the shelter. They find lost Pokémon and find them new homes."

The Houndour's eyes opened wide. "Houndour hound dour dour hound?" Ok, that one was a little harder . . . let's see . . . ah, ok. "Yeah, I can understand you. Try to not tell anyone, it's my secret." The Houndour's eyes opened wide in shock as its tail began wagging back and forth.

As it spoke to me, I had to try really hard to translate it. "Sorry, I-I'm still not very good at it. Ok . . . where . . . where is . . . where is mother?" The Houndour nodded vigorously, its tail going very very fast in excitement. I gulped. "I-I don't know, I-"

"I don't believe it." I flinched as I turned around, the man having a large grin on his face. "How did you do it? I haven't seen her move from that spot since we found her." I frowned, how could I say this without giving away my secret?

"Hey-um . . . what . . . what can you tell me about Houndours?" The man frowned then clearly went into thought. "Well, they evolve into Houndooms . . . they tend to live in packs, but not always. Here, come with me."

The man led me to a cage where a doggy that looked a lot like a grown-up Houndour growled at us. The man told me to keep my distance, but I frowned. The Houndoom was speaking, and I mumbled a bit to figure it out in my head.

Let's see here . . . what . . . what have . . . what have you . . . done . . . to my . . . I put my hands to my mouth, this was it! 'What have you done to my daughter!' This was the other one's mommy! "Don't worry, it can't reach you." I jumped in shock, but then shook my head. Ok, I had to find a way to do this . . . "So a baby Houndoom is a Houndour?" The man nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry, Houndour won't become mean just because this Houndoom-"

I shook my head, she wasn't mean, she was angry. But how could I . . . "Is it . . . umm . . . could this Houndoom be the Houndour's mommy?" The man flinched and the Houndoom immediately went silent. It looked at me in shock as the man looked the other way. "It's possible, I guess, but . . . but I don't know how to check."

I smiled. "I know a way! Put them in the same cage!" The man gave a slight grin. "There are two problems with that. This Houndoom's pretty . . . aggressive, so we aren't letting it out unrestrained. And we can't get the Houndour to move." I smiled, and asked if I could go into the Houndour's cage.

The man soon led me back, and opened the Houndour's cage. The Houndour looked up at me, and came out from her corner. As I smiled, I walked over to it and leaned down. I then whispered to it so the man couldn't hear me. "I think I found her."

The Houndour immediately began wagging her tail, and I told her to come with us. As I walked out of the cage, so did Houndour, right behind me. "Well I'll be. You have a way with Pokémon, kid." I smiled, he didn't need to know my secret. "Ok, so where's the Houndoom's cage again?"

The man led me back to the other cage, and both the Houndoom and the Houndour looked at each other. They both immediately pawed at the cage lock, which the man soon unlocked. The Houndoom forced the door open, despite the man's wishes, and slipped out.

She then went over to the Houndour, both of the rubbing up against each other happily, tails wagging. As Houndour told Houndoom that I could understand them, Houndoom and Houndour both began licking my face. I giggled as they did, and I soon heard a chuckle. "Not bad, kid."

I turned to see the man smile, and soon I told the Houndoom and her daughter that they had to go back into the cages, but that they could both be in the same one. They both happily agreed, and as they willingly entered the cage the man smiled at me. "I'm impressed." As he reached to lock the cage, we both suddenly turned when we heard the roar. "_Whoa! _Stop! Calm down!"

I watched with big eyes as an Arcanine dashed into view, ramming one person into the side of a cage while another tried to hold it back. "Damn it! Man down!" I gulped as the Arcanine continued its rampage. The man with the funny mustache immediately got in front of me, but it was clear he was not going to be able to stop the angry Arcanine if it decided to head our way.

I suddenly realized he hadn't gotten to lock Houndoom and Houndour's cage when I felt Houndour rub up against me. When the man in front of me gave a startled cry, I turned to see the Arcanine was headed our way! I saw the anger, the terrible, terrible rage in its eyes as it charged at us.

I was so scared, I screamed. Houndour immediately got in front of us, but Houndoom leapt over all of us and braced for the Arcanine's approach. As the Arcanine got closer and closer, Houndoom took a deep breath. I wasn't prepared for what happened next.

"_**DOOM!**_" The incredible attack knocked Arcanine back all the way to the wall, and it fainted. For a while, both I and the man didn't say a word. It was only when I felt mommy's hands around me that I realized she had seen the whole thing.

Of course, she chewed out the man for getting me into that danger, which the man accepted the accusations without complaint. However, mom also noted just how proud of me she was when she was told how I realized Houndour and Houndoom were mother and daughter.

I eventually gulped, seeing the Arcanine had scared me out of wanting a Growlithe. I knew what I wanted now, but . . . I didn't want to separate them after just having reunited Houndoom and Houndour. That was when mom declared we'd buy both of them. I walked out of that shelter a happy boy with Houndour on my right, Houndoom on Houndour's right, and mommy on my left.


	12. The Silent Thunder

For those of you wondering about the name, it's actually his INITIALS. I have subtly hidden the boy's full nickname here somewhere, good luck finding it.

* * *

><p>Singed gave a small groan as he returned to consciousness. Ugh, he was sore all over from that blasted Serperior. And Houndoom was-<em>Houndoom!<em> Singed forced his eyes to open, and he was startled at what he saw. He was on the side of the road, right where the Serperior had Giga-drained him. The blue-eyed boy from before, the one that had smiled at him, was sitting on top of the same Rapidash that Singed had seen before. Next to them was a Pokémon Singed had _definitely_ not seen before.

Just as the Serperior had radiated royalty, this strange Pokémon radiated a sort of serene grace. Feminine in looks, the Pokémon reminded Singed of a woman wearing a dress. He had little doubt that it was a Psychic type, although how he knew that was beyond . . . ugh, what was Singed _doing_! Houndoom wasn't in sight! That was his _first_ priority!

Singed grunted as he got to his feet, refusing to listen as his body moaned in pain. The serene Pokémon looked at Singed with a careful eye, and the Rapidash turned to look at the same time the blue-eyed boy did. The Rapidash smirked as it neighed, and Singed quickly translated it in his head. 'Ah, so the fearsome boy awakens. _Truly_ a glorious sight. Are we _certain _I can't just hit him?' Singed gave a slight smirk at that.

While it was clearly sarcasm, at least the first part, this also meant that the blue-eyed boy had likely helped Singed out. It was an accident of course. Singed had no doubt about that. Still, Singed was in one piece so the boy clearly hadn't decided to at-oh, for crying out _loud_! He did it again, what was _wrong_ with Singed! He had to find Houndoom! Singed grunted from the force it took to get in a fighting stance. "Where's Houndoom?"

The boy looked away, and Singed flinched as he heard a feminine voice in his head. "_We don't know._" Singed flinched as he looked at the Psychic-type Pokémon. While _yes_ it was the answer he had expected . . . he had expected it from the blue-eyed boy. Besides, he hated how some Psychic types could read the minds of others. "I apologize, but I would prefer to talk to your _master._" Singed spit out the last word like it was poison.

Singed was no trainer, and there was a reason for that. He actually had a similar belief as Team Plasma, but not quite to their extent. Instead of wanting both sides separated, Singed believed it was the Pokémon's choice on what they wanted to do. He didn't like trainers, because he was firmly convinced that Pokémon _trainers_ saw Pokémon as tools. The Pokémon Singed had been talking to gave Singed a sympathetic smile as it spoke again, the words reverberating through Singed's head. "_I apologize, but ST can't speak._"

Singed frowned as he looked at the blue-eyed boy. While he knew each second he spent here was another wasted second that he wasn't searching for Houndoom, he had to admit he was intrigued at the idea that this blue-eyed boy . . . wait, _what_ had the Pokémon called its master? "ST?" The boy nodded with a sympathetic smile. Huh, that was new. Whatever, it didn't matter. Singed turned around and walked for the forest, hoping that he was facing the direction Houndoom had been thrown. "Thanks for the aid. But I _must_ find Houndoom."

The Rapidash snickered, neighing what Singed quickly translated as 'aww, he's nothing without his precious Houndoom to protect him'. Singed froze in his path then whipped himself around to face the boy and his Rapidash. He spoke, his voice filled with rage at the Rapidash's accusation. _"__**What did you just say?**__"_ The boy and his Psychic Pokémon flinched and looked at each other as the Rapidash looked confused. Singed knew he was giving away his old 'secret', but that didn't matter to him anymore. He wasn't going to let that one go unchallenged. "I do _not_ force Houndoom to protect me, you burning _donkey!_"

He didn't bother to look at their reactions, right now he needed to think. Ok, which way had Houndoom been thrown? Let's see here . . . when looking north, Houndoom had been thrown to the left. But which way was Singed facing? With how much that Serperior had thrashed around while Singed had held onto it, he could be facing north or south right now and he wouldn't be able to tell.

Ok, he just couldn't let himself panic. He needed to find the right way. Ok, landmarks? Ah, there was the grass that the Serperior had hidden in! Ok, so that was on his right when he had looked north . . . and now it was on his left. So Houndoom was thrown to his . . . right! There we go, now we were getting somewhere! As Singed began to walk to the right, he suddenly heard the Psychic type in his head. "_Do you require aid?_"

Singed turned around, completely startled. Had . . . were they actually . . . no, he-he must have heard that wrong. "Look, I'm not certain on just about everything anymore. But I'm _quite_ sure I didn't hear that right." The Psychic type repeated the question, and to Singed's shock it sounded the exact same. He looked the other way for a bit, what . . . this made no sense whatsoever. "Look, I'm not certain you know who I am. Name's Singed, is this . . . is this ringing any bells? Like the name people _scream_ when they see me then run in the other direction?"

ST simply smiled, and soon his Psychic type Pokémon spoke again. "We know that you are feared, Singed. However, you are troubled at the moment. ST simply wishes to know if you would like us to help you search for Houndoom." Singed's mind practically turned off, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I don't . . . I don't understand. I-I mean, I . . . I guess, but . . . but I can't guarantee that Houndoom won't burn your face off when she sees you."

He was pretty certain they would get the hint, but as he turned around he heard the Rapidash walk with him. As he entered the forest . . . he couldn't believe it. They were . . . they _were_ helping him look! Singed just couldn't believe it. Would Houndoom appreciate him being helped by complete strangers? Well, if she didn't then Singed would have to take the punishment.

Eventually, he sighed. It didn't matter, they were offering help, and help would allow him to find Houndoom faster. Singed knew the first trick Houndoom would try would be an Odor Sleuth, but he also knew it wouldn't work because she was too used to her own scent to be able to pick it up. As such, logic stated that she would check the forest for a way out, which Singed had to admit he certainly would get lost in here easily if he wasn't focusing on it.

Singed soon found where Houndoom had clearly landed, there was quite a large area of displaced grass. He studied the area, vaguely aware of ST and his Psychic type Pokémon speaking. However, his attention turned to them when Rapidash was turned into some sort of red light and sucked into the Pokéball. Singed couldn't help it, he cringed every time he saw that. He could almost _hear_ the Rapidash scream, there was-"_beg pardon?_"

Singed flinched, then caught himself glaring at ST. "Sorry, I just . . . I have strong thoughts about pokéballs." The Psychic type frowned then suddenly hit itself in the face. "_You don't even know what I am, do you?_" Singed gave a slight grin as the Pokémon shook her head. "_I am a Gardevoir._" Alright, so that was what she was.

As Singed went back to trying to figure out Houndoom's path, he soon found Houndoom's tracks. He cringed as he realized Houndoom had been running, while it was touching to know just how quickly she wanted to be reunited she was running in the wrong direction. Oh, well. She had to stop some-"_It's not painful._"

Singed flinched as he looked back at Gardevoir. "Pardon?" Gardevoir gave a smile as she nodded over to ST. "_The pokéballs, it's not painful at all._" Singed froze, _what!_ "How . . . that's just not possible, just _look_ at those things! He just put a _horse_ into something the size of a _fist_! Just getting it _down_ to that size would . . ." Singed shuddered at the thought, it would be like being crushed by two metal panels! There was no way that it could be painless! Gardevoir smiled. "_It feels strange, but it's not a painful feeling. The inside of the pokéball is rather nice, actually._"

It took a while before that thought could get across to Singed, he couldn't believe it. Here was a Pokémon that experienced this sort of stuff first-hand, and it was saying that being crammed into these pokéballs actually felt . . . Singed looked away for a bit, then decided to change the subject. "Houndoom landed here, then took off. I believe she was trying to get back to the road, but she took the wrong direction." Gardevoir and ST nodded, both accepting the change of subject without complaint.

It was only when Singed suddenly noticed the area darkening that he realized it was almost night. Wow, how long had he been out? At least a few hours, and . . . no, it didn't matter. Singed, ST, and Gardevoir all continued to look for Houndoom. However, it soon grew too dark for Singed to see clearly. When ST (through Gardevoir) stated that sleep would be best, Singed conceded. As much as he wanted to find Houndoom, the Serperior was likely awake by now. Singed had to admit he couldn't beat it by himself, it would be best for him to stay near ST.


	13. The Lost And The Found

Singed woke up with a scream. _**Damn it!**_ And here he had thought . . . _damn it_! He had never had a nightmare like that. He could still hear Houndoom's words even though he was awake. There was_ no_ way that Singed was going to wait any longer! Every second he wasn't looking for Houndoom . . . Singed got up quietly, slipping away from the sleeping forms of ST and his Gardevoir.

Singed quickly began to search the area, tracking Houndoom much faster than before. He had to find her. He couldn't let that Serperior find her first! It was _his_ purpose to defend her, everything else was nothing more than a bonus! He would _not_ fail her! Yet minutes turned into hours, and he felt like he was getting no closer.

"_**DOOM!**_" "_**MIGHT!**_" Singed flinched but quickly traced the sounds back to their source. He soon found himself facing a large clearing, and his heart sang in relief as he saw Houndoom. She was currently facing a Mightyena, and when she suddenly blasted it back with a flamethrower to the face Singed walked into the clearing.

Houndoom immediately turned to face him, her eyes lighting up when she realized who it was. Singed smiled as tears came to his eyes, and soon he had his arms wrapped around Houndoom, who was licking his face. "I was so worried, Houndoom!" Houndoom smiled, and stated that she was as well. That moment could have lasted forever, but the Mightyena barked at them.

As the Mightyena and Houndoom spoke to each other, Singed learned quite a bit. Apparently, Houndoom had run right into Mightyena as she was searching for Singed. After a duel which ended in a draw, the two of them gained respect for each other. As such, Mightyena had promised to use its understanding of the forest to help Houndoom find Singed. During this time, Mightyena spoke _very_ derogatively about Singed, which never failed to get Houndoom to snap at Mightyena.

Apparently, the two of them kept on getting into fights because Mightyena believed Pokémon were nothing more than slaves of humans, and continually labeled Singed as such. Houndoom would angrily defend Singed, stating that Singed would never use her and that Houndoom herself was confident in Singed's selflessness. During this time, Singed realized there was something more going on here. He personally was on Houndoom's side of the argument, but he wasn't going to intervene unless Houndoom wanted him to. Still . . . Houndoom and Mightyena _clearly_ didn't hate each other.

From the way Houndoom blushed when looking at the Mightyena, and from the way Mightyena specifically avoided insulting Houndoom, was it possible they had fallen for each other? Singed felt the corner of his mouth twitch as he thought to himself that it made sense. After all, the two of them were Dark Pokémon, so just by that they were naturally attracted to power. He knew better than to say the joke though, it could offend Houndoom.

Houndoom got Singed by surprise when she asked Mightyena to come with. Mightyena flat-out refused, stating that he 'fell for that ruse last time'. He then suggested Houndoom leave Singed for Mightyena, and Singed shuddered at that thought. Houndoom . . . Singed knew himself, he could never . . .

But as Houndoom looked back and forth at Mightyena and Singed, Singed saw the pain in her eyes. She was torn, she clearly wanted to be with Mightyena but she was just as worried that Singed would be offended. That was all it took, Singed _refused_ to let himself harm Houndoom. With a smile on his face, Singed got down to eye level with Houndoom. "It's your choice Houndoom, just as its always been. Don't worry about me, I understand."

Houndoom looked at Singed with tears in her eyes, and soon the two of them shared one last hug. Singed didn't understand why Houndoom seemed so sad, after all this was what she wanted. Singed didn't shed a single tear as he held her close to him, why would he? There was nothing to cry about. This was what Houndoom wanted. He was the one that eventually ended the hug, automatically saying that he would miss her. Houndoom walked over to the Mightyena, who appeared as unmoved by the event as Singed felt.

Singed smiled as Houndoom walked off with Mightyena, looking back with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. Again, that confused Singed, but he didn't question it. He watched Houndoom as she disappeared out of sight, Singed knew he had done the right thing because Houndoom was now happy. "_Wow._" Singed flinched as he turned to see ST and Gardevoir had caught up. Singed frowned when he saw tears in their eyes.

What was _wrong_ with everyone? "Why is everyone so sad?" Gardevoir and ST gave each other looks of confusion then Gardevoir spoke. "_That was . . . that was so selfless, Singed._" Singed shrugged. "I don't get why you believe that. Houndoom is happy, that's all that matters." With a grin, Singed began to leave the clearing. As he did, he spoke more. "Next up's Nacrene City, then Striaton, then finally the Dreamyard. Once there, we"

Singed froze mid-step as his mind finally realized the consequences for what he had allowed. It was no longer 'we'. It was him. Houndoom wasn't there anymore! Houndoom didn't . . . she didn't _need_ him anymore! His one purpose, the very last thing he had of his old life . . . it was _**gone!**_ Houndoom was gone, and intentionally or not she took with her everything that defined Singed. Singed felt tears coming to his eyes, _what had he just __**done!**_


	14. Ramifications

ST and Gardevoir walked with silence, every now and then looking back at Singed. ST felt so bad for Singed, his one purpose in life had just been taken from him. ST knew what that was like, and as he looked at Gardevoir they both gave each other the same knowing smile.

ST was a nickname given to him. He had entered a city with no memory of his past life, not even a name. But he quickly had made a name for himself. He had been _the_ fastest person alive. The friends he had soon made had dubbed him 'The Silent Thunder', 'Silent' because he was incapable of speaking and 'Thunder' because of the sound his feet made when he ran. ST had never let himself worry about the past or the future, so long as he had been running he was happy.

Then . . . he still remembered seeing the semi barreling down the road and the little girl that froze in place as the Semi was closing in on her. ST hadn't thought about what to do, he had just acted. He had sprinted towards her, topping the fastest speed he had previously ever obtained. He reached her just in time to shove her out of the way, but not fast enough to get his own self out of the way. He didn't remember much of being ran over. It had all gone dark. Then he had woken up in the hospital. The Semi had crushed his left leg. His leg would heal, but only partially. He would never be able to run again.

At first, just like what Singed had done, ST hadn't truly understood the price he had to pay. It dawned on him only when he was well enough to stand up, and he immediately fell over when he tried to run. That was when it truly dawned on him. That was the first time in his memory that he burst into tears. He couldn't run from the truth, he couldn't run at all.

That night he had stayed in that hospital, crying. It was only when he felt the small hand on his shoulder that he even noticed what was then a Ralts. She had felt ST's pain, and she had been there for him as he cried. The two of them became inseparable, and it wasn't long before Rapidash joined the team. Of course, ST was still unable to run. Now, he preferred to travel the world, looking for amazing sights.

By the time ST snapped out of his memories, Singed spoke up. This was the first time he had said anything since it had dawned on him that Houndoom wasn't there for him. "Thanks. I . . . I need to be alone." ST immediately felt alarmed, he knew very well that Singed _had_ to be supervised at the moment! He had just lost everything, to leave him alone would likely result in Singed committing suicide!

But try as Gardevoir and ST might, they couldn't convince Singed to stay with them. No matter what they said, they just couldn't get him to allow them to follow. It was with a heavy heart that they conceded, both of them hoping, praying to Rayquaza that Singed would continue to the Dreamyard. Maybe, if they gave him enough time to himself, Singed would allow them to help him through this moment.


	15. My Queen

Here's a fun fact: Serperior and her evolutionary tree is based off of European royalty. Enough said.

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><p>Serperior slithered across the ground, glaring at any of the pathetic peasants that dared to get in her way. Serperior ruled this forest and all other Pokémon <em>knew<em> that! She would prove any foolish jester that dared to suggest she wasn't their ruler _wrong!_ This was her kingdom, this was her castle. Yet now her servants were starting to run in her direction. While they always realized their error before running into her, this intrigued her.

Whatever were they running from? Another challenger? Serperior felt the grin form on her regal face as she tidied herself up, it was time to teach another fool the error of their ways. Maybe this one would be the one she was looking for, or maybe this was that red-eyed boy that had disgraced her majestic strength. He angered her, for he had that same haunted look in his eyes that Serperior herself possessed. Only one such as she understood pain well enough to have that.

When Serperior found the source, she was quite shocked. Keeping herself hidden in the bushes, she eyed her newer rival, the red-eyed boy. But . . . was this an imposter? This couldn't be the same fearless human that had fought her, that had shamed her. No, for this one was crying. His tears, glittering like jewels, fell to the ground. Whatever could this human be so aggravated by? Serperior knew he couldn't see her, the veil of pain that enshrouded him was blinding him to all danger around him.

Then again, that mongrel that had alerted this boy wasn't in sight. Serperior almost snorted in disgust, this coward wouldn't even _attempt_ to find that mongrel? The boy, a once-proud human that could pass for a prince, now whispered a name that was not his own. 'Houndoom', was that the name of his servant? If he truly feared for the servant's safety, then why should he not attempt to find them? But as the human continued to whisper, Serperior learned that there was far more to the boy than met the eye.

He whispered to himself of a Pokémon he called a Pidgeotto, and of how it taught him to speak the language of Pokémon. He then sobbed about its death, and how it was only the first one. As Serperior listened, enraptured by every word about the young boy's past, she learned that the boy's life had been enshrouded by death. First it was the Pidgeotto, who he blamed himself for its death even though it had been an accident. As a five-year-old, the boy would never have been able to foresee the consequence of the Pidgeotto's actions that caused it to breathe its last.

After that the boy's voice grew in strength, but retained the shudder of a person who wished to cry. He spoke of how he had reunited a Houndoom and a Houndour, mother and daughter, and how they became part of his family. He made absurd claims, such as he was responsible for the death of the Houndoom, when it was truly a disease that had dealt the fatal blow. He stated how he tried to redeem himself by helping Houndour through that time, and as Serperior listened she grew . . . envious.

She remembered her true target, the boy that had abandoned her in this forest as a Snivy for failing to beat Pokémon that she now knew she could never have beaten. How could a newly-hatched Snivy battle a Pidove and expect to win? How could a newly-hatched Snivy face a Tepig so experienced that it evolved directly after the battle? Yet her accursed trainer had refused to see the foolishness in his actions, using Snivy as a king may use a jester, for blame and for their own humor. When she lost to a Venipede, her owner had had quite enough. Abandoning her in the same forest the Venipede had defeated her in without even having her healed, her trainer left her to die.

But Snivy had refused. She learned how to fight by herself, growing stronger and stronger as she faced foes again and again. Soon, she was a Servine. Not more than a week later, she was a Serperior. Still she trained until the forest Pokémon feared her, when she could even defeat a Scolipede without so much as a hint of damage. Now she was here, waiting patiently for her original owner to appear so Serperior could teach her owner just who was the fool.

And yet here she was, listening as a boy who had almost defeated her in battle whispered his pain to seemingly himself. Unlike Serperior's original trainer, this boy had the heart of a king, completely devoted to what Serperior now realized was not his servant, but his queen. And yet . . . as the boy spoke of the day he lost his mother, Serperior was soon seething in anger.

The poor boy had been outside with his Houndour, trying his best to cheer her up. That was when a trainer appeared, and just like with Serperior the trainer made everything take a turn for the worst. The trainer was fighting a Charizard, a Pokémon that even Serperior knew. The Charizard angrily showered the opposing Feraligator with flames, yet the Feraligator leapt up and gave the Charizard a strong strike with its tail.

While the battle continued, the boy and Houndour were in a panic. The Feraligator's attack against the Charizard had caused the Flamethrower to change course. The Flamethrower tore through the boy's house, setting it on fire. Once the Charizard flew off, the trainer noticed the house's predicament. While he had Feraligator put out the fire, it was too late. The boy's mother had died from smoke inhalation.

Tortured by his mind, the boy became angry. Against Houndour's wishes, the boy marched right to where the trainer had told the boy the Charizard rested, and had found it. The boy wanted to get his revenge for the loss of his mother. But he severely underestimated the Charizard. When it realized the boy was trying to kill it, the Charizard toyed with him, not even giving him a chance. The boy was in great trouble, trying to defend himself as the Charizard mauled him, when Houndour showed up.

Evolving and using a move it shouldn't have been able to learn, the boy's queen rescued him. From that day, the two of them became devoted to each other. The boy told of many battles where he saved his Houndoom or Houndoom saved him, soon becoming known as terrors to the public. But now Serperior finally learned what was haunting the boy.

His queen had fallen in love. In order to keep her happy, and which the boy repeatedly stated was not Houndoom's fault, he let her go. The boy told himself that he should be happy just knowing she was happy. The boy would have continued his self-criticism, but as a Trainer approached, Seismitoad at the ready, the boy finally lifted his head. The trainer spoke with anger towards an opponent that no longer had the heart to fight. "_Singed._ It's time to die."

Serperior knew she had to act. It never occurred to her that the boy never asked for her help, she now knew what she had to do. The boy would never defend himself when he felt so evil. As the Seismitoad got ready to strike, Serperior lifted herself up and bellowed her name at the Seismitoad. The trainer and his Pokémon took off without another word, without ever looking back at the furious queen. With the threat gone, Serperior focused on the boy she now knew was named Singed.

It was a fitting name, for it explained perfectly what continually happened to the poor boy. He danced within the flames, and often got burned because of it. But now? Serperior wrapped herself around the boy, who closed his eyes and waited for the embrace of death. However, Serperior didn't squeeze. That wasn't her intention. She lowered her head, and spoke in her language to the boy. "You have lost so much and gained so little."

That was all it took. Singed broke out into sobs as he wrapped his arms around Serperior, having realized she was offering comfort. It just felt right for Serperior, the poor boy now had a new queen to obey. While Serperior still wanted to find her original owner and teach him a lesson in royalty, this boy needed her more. Once he finally gained a hold over himself, he stated that he still had a mission from his old queen, to get to the Dreamyard.

That made perfect sense to Serperior, after all the poor boy had been through he clearly suffered from nightmares. To get a Munna would do wonders to unchain him from his guilt. As such, Serperior stated she was going to stay with the boy until they reached the Dreamyard. When the boy tried to state that he no longer wanted to go, Serperior stated that he was either going there being dragged by the foot or walking alongside her, and that it was _his _choice which one he preferred. He made the right choice, in Serperior's eyes.


	16. The Breaking Point

Everyone has a weak spot. _Everyone_. And for every weak spot, there is someone willing to take advantage of it.

* * *

><p>Singed couldn't help it, he smiled as he walked next to the Serperior. He used the time they were walking to try to sort through what had happened. Houndoom had left, but . . . why? Was he too selfish, was that it? Was it his own greedy thoughts that had convinced him Houndoom enjoyed his company?<p>

'No' Singed flinched as he looked at the Serperior, who had a stern eye on Singed. She spoke, and Singed quickly translated. 'It was nothing you did. She fell in love, Singed. Sometimes you just have to accept that some beings are happy without you.' As Singed looked the other way, blushing furiously, Serperior spoke again. However, her voice was much more soothing this time. 'In all my years, I have never seen someone so devoted to a Pokémon. She was happy in your care, Singed. And she's happy now. Do not worry yourself about her anymore, you never failed to make her happy.'

Singed gave a slight smile, but Serperior glared at him. 'Say it.' Singed almost shook his head in amusement as he forced the words out of his mouth. "I never failed to make Houndoom happy." Singed flinched, he just . . . he felt the truth in his own words, like manifesting them himself allowed him to see through the fog his mind had been enshrouded in.

He had devoted himself to her, and Houndoom was very grateful for that. Now though, she was happy elsewhere. He'd _never_ forget her, maybe he could come back later for some visits. For now . . . well, first was the Dreamyard. Of course, that was in no small part to Serperior's demands. She seemed to see herself as royalty, and Singed was pretty certain Serperior hadn't been kidding about that threat of dragging him there by the leg.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Serperior slithered out and looked at Singed expectantly. Singed looked back in the forest, if he left . . . then he would practically be abandoning Houndoom to the forest-HEY! As he had stood there, Serperior's tail had snatched him by his left ankle, and Singed could only grin as Serperior made good her threat. For some time, Singed watched as the forest grew smaller and smaller in his sights. His heart longed for the forest again, to go back to Houndoom . . . but then what? _Make_ her stay with him?

Once the forest was completely out of sight Serperior stopped and looked back at Singed. Singed sighed as he got off of his stomach, noting that the path had cut into the bottom of his legs a bit. He smiled at the Serperior, while the act was rather annoying Singed would never have left that forest without her dragging her out. "Thanks." Serperior grinned at Singed, and the two of them went back to walking side-by-side.

The path seemed to take forever. At least three hours _must_ have passed, and during that time Singed felt the effects from his lack of sleep taking their toll. It became difficult to separate noise. So when the noise suddenly grew, Singed barely noticed. It was only when Serperior tapped him on the shoulder that Singed looked up, and what he saw shocked him to awareness.

Plasma Grunts. Not the same ones from before, but still just as devoted. Without giving them a chance to speak, Serperior told Singed to continue down the path then charged at the Grunts. With curses, the Grunts called out their own Pokémon, and soon Serperior was fighting off multiple Pokémon. Singed obeyed Serperior, and went farther down the path.

It was only when a gloved hand grabbed his shoulder that Singed realized one of the Grunts had slipped away from Serperior's attacks. The grunt looked rather confused, and Singed knew what the question was before the Grunt even opened his mouth. "Where's the Houndoom?" Singed looked the other way, he felt the tears coming back. While he couldn't get himself to say it, the Grunt figured it out. "Ah, she left you?" Singed was doing his best to not cry. When the Grunt suddenly put a gentle hand on Singed's shoulder, Singed looked up at them . . . uh, _her_ in shock.

"Come on, let's talk in private." The Grunt gently led Singed to a more secluded area, and Singed didn't even try to resist. Soon, the Grunt had Singed sit down on a log, and the Grunt sat next to Singed. "What happened?" Singed gulped, but finally confessed. "She left me. She fell in love, and I refused to get in the way." The Grunt gave a slight smile as Singed looked up at her. "Ever since then . . . _have_ I been making her . . . suffer?"

The Grunt sighed as she nodded. "Yes. Just by being near her, you were making her suffer." Singed felt the tears begin to flow as the Grunt gently grabbed his shoulders. "Don't you see? This is what we want to stop. We want to separate humans and Pokémon, so we can't make them suffer. I don't know what happened to make her part of your past, but I don't want to know. If you really _do_ care for her, if she truly did mean _anything_ to you, _let her go_."

Singed snapped. He got up and sprinted away from the grunt, letting the tears flow. The grunt was right. Singed had to keep himself from going back. He'd only hurt Houndoom more. Singed ran right through town, which he only knew because of the screams of fear people gave at seeing him. The screams cut deeply into Singed, he no longer saw himself as equal. He was one who caused everyone around him pain to feed his own _twisted_ pleasures.

Everything he cared about suffered solely because he cared about it. Singed looked up with tears in his eyes as he saw a crossroad, and took the left turn. He quickly found a safe-haven, a cave. He ran right into it, found a corner, and just stayed there, crying. It was a long time before he managed to get a hold of himself. When he finally stopped crying and got up, he was hungry, thirsty, and above all he was _exhausted_. He refused to sleep, he knew nightmares would haunt him yet again.

That was when he remembered the Dreamyard. He remembered how excited Houndoom had looked when they had heard about the Munna. She herself didn't suffer from these nightmares, she was stronger than Singed. She had been happy because Singed would no longer suffer from them. He had to . . . he had to get to them. He was . . . he was too tired. He couldn't think clearly. He exited the cave, not aware of what time of day it was. It didn't matter, he had to get to the Dreamyard. Too tired to walk correctly, Singed very slowly shuffled forwards.


	17. A Helping Hand

Cilan and his brothers, Chili and Cress, were 'speaking' to a mute with a Gardevoir about Singed. "We know he was supposed to come this way, but it's been a good two _days_ since he passed through Nacrene city." Chili nodded and held out a hand to show the route in front of them, Route 3. "He should appear from this way, but . . . well, is it possible he _won't_ appear?" The boy looked the other way, and Cilan sighed. "Look, we really _do_ understand. He's lost the only thing he cared about, of course he's unstable. But we can't just send out a search party when he's so distrusted by the populace."

The boy nodded with a sigh, and his Gardevoir thanked the three of them for helping. As they nodded, Cress suddenly turned. "Hey, did you see that?" When Cilan, Chili, and the mute boy shook their heads no Cress walked over to one of the hedges. When he got behind it, Cress paled. "Oh, wow. Hey, I think I've found him!" All three of them (four including Gardevoir) dashed over there, and Cilan couldn't believe what he was seeing. What in the . . .

His eyes were closed, but Cilan didn't need to see them open to see that this was Singed. He looked . . . oh, wow. The poor kid was lying down, too tired to move. Yet even now, his eyes still fluttered in a vain attempt to stay open. Singed was refusing to sleep, and it was taking its toll. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days, and he was mumbling a word over and over again. However, he was so weak from his lack of sleep that the word was too slurred to be understood. It was only after some thought that Cilan realized Singed was saying 'Dreamyard'.

Cilan, Chili, Cress, and the boy's Gardevoir worked together to lift Singed up. Keeping him out of sight of the populace, all of them worked together to get Singed over to the Dreamyard. It didn't take long, and almost the instant they set him down a Munna appeared. Cilan, Chili, Cress, the boy, and the boy's Gardevoir all grinned as Singed stopped fighting the need to sleep, and lightly began to snore.


	18. No Such Thing As Too Friendly, Right?

Singed gave a low groan as he woke up. That was actually . . . he . . . wait, where was he? It looked like he was in the ruins of some long-forgotten building, hadn't he passed out on . . . whatever route that was? Well, this was weird. When Singed sat up, he noted how . . . refreshed he felt. He made to get up, but stopped when he found a note in his hand. When he looked at the note, he couldn't help but smile. '_You're welcome. ST_' Ah, so _that_ was how he got here. That would make here the . . . Dreamyard?

Huh, a whole lot different than Singed expected for a place that was a popular tourist attraction. Ok, so he was here. Now he had to . . . now he had to . . . Singed just stopped. He knew about needing the Munna, but . . . he didn't remember his dreams from his last time asleep. Had he been cured? No, it couldn't be. As Singed got up, he sighed. Now that he was refreshed, he could accept the fact that Houndoom no longer needed him. But that still begged the question . . . what should he do now? Well, he guessed he could just try to . . . wait, had he heard something behind him?

When Singed looked behind him, he damn near blushed. He had no idea ST had a sense of humor, yet there was a pink pillow with purple flowers on it. "ST, you son of a . . ." Singed shook his head as he turned around, but when he heard noise he turned back around to see that it _wasn't_ a pillow. It levitated in the air, and as it turned Singed realized it was a Pokémon. Was this a Munna? Ah, so it just decided to get a quick snack as Singed slept there. Well, that was nice. Realizing he no longer had the leverage he had before (Houndoom) Singed just decided to leave.

Ok, now what did he want to do? Well, it would never hurt to just . . . _visit_ Houndoom, right? See how she's doing without him, yeah. Nothing . . . nothing . . . Singed turned around and flinched as he realized the Munna was floating in the air, looking right at him. It was approx. 2 inches from his face, and Singed frowned. "Uh . . . thanks?" The Munna smiled at Singed. "Mun!" Singed felt his cheeks flush scarlet. Did the Munna just call him . . . 'friend'? "Uh, I think you may have me mistaken for someone else."

As Singed turned around, he tried to put that thought out of his mind. Unfortunately, it didn't _want_ to be put out of his mind. The Munna got him to yelp in surprise when it dropped down in front of his face, then began dancing around his head. Singed began to wonder about the . . . intelligence of the Pokémon when he realized it was saying the word 'friend' over and over. Eventually, Singed sighed. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to force you to come with me."

It was only when Singed looked back at what he said that he realized how . . . _strange_ that sounded. If the Munna wanted to come along, was he really _forcing_ it too? No, it didn't matter. Singed wasn't going to let it come along. Not after what he went through with Houndoom, Munna probably just wanted him for food anyways. As Singed tried to walk away, he was irritated to find the Munna following him. "Oh, for . . . _get lost!_"

The Munna froze, but Singed walked away. It was only after the Munna exclaimed 'friend' again that Singed _really_ started to get irritated. He turned around to find it dancing again. "Look, let's get something straight here. _We are not friends._ It was _kind_ of you to take care of my nightmares, but that doesn't make us friends. Ok?"

When the Munna exclaimed 'friend' again, Singed sighed. So _that_ was how it was going to be, huh? Singed gulped, then brought back his fist and slammed it into the Munna. "Consider that a warning." There was no way that it would follow him after that. Singed turned around, then frowned when he noticed he was standing under some sort of shad-

Singed cursed as the Munna landed on his head, so it _did_ understand . . . wait, this wasn't an attack. This was . . . why that _little_ . . . "_Get off of my head!_" Singed tried pulling it off, he tried hitting it off, but it was no use. The Munna had practically suction-cupped itself to his head, he couldn't get it off. Well that was just _great!_ On the good side, he now had a Munna that he was very certain he could count on eating his nightmares. On the _bad_ side, it appeared to have a learning disorder and didn't understand that most friends don't punch each other.

As the Munna exclaimed 'friend', Singed shouted at it. "_NO WE ARE NOT!_" In reply, the Munna cleverly stated 'friend'. As Singed sighed, he suddenly heard someone laughing hysterically. Singed blushed furiously when he realized _Alder_ was here. "You knew. You _knew_ this was going to happen!" Alder laughed again, shaking his head. "No, I did _not_. _But_, it's pretty funny." Singed shook his head as the Munna stated friend again. Eventually, Singed shook his head, starting to get used to the extra weight. "Why does it keep on _saying_ that?"

Alder cocked his head in confusion. "It's the Pokémon language, they always use their name to-" Oh! Right, he couldn't understand the Pokémon language. And as Munna happily stated 'friend' over and over again, Singed kind of wished he _couldn't_ understand it. "Ugh! Hey, do you have a crowbar or something to help me _get this damn thing off my head!_"

Alder shook his head. "So what is it saying?" Singed shook his head. "'Mun', as you so cleverly told me." Alder chuckled as he again shook his head. "Singed, you were speaking to it like you knew what it was saying. Can you . . ." Singed sighed. "Yeah, I can understand the Pokémon language. It keeps saying 'friend', and I haven't heard another word out of it." As Munna said it again, Alder shook his head. "Not the smartest Psychic Pokémon, I guess. It _is_ cute, though." Singed's reply was quick and got his feelings across. "_**SHUT UP!**_"

Alder laughed as Singed grumbled. As Alder walked away, Singed immediately spoke up. "Where are we going?" Alder looked back in amusement. "I'm just going to walk, in all honesty. If you want, you can join." When Singed realized he had automatically said 'we' instead of 'he', he blushed. What the _censor_ was wrong with him! As the Munna happily exclaimed 'friend', Singed sighed.

"Sorry, I just thought maybe you were _getting_ a crowbar or something. Damn it-how heavy _is_ this thing!" Alder grinned back at Singed. "Fifty pounds, more or less." Singed flinched, and as Munna said 'friend', he looked up at it annoyed. "Ok, we're going to have to cut back on your diet a bit." Alder burst out laughing as Munna again exclaimed 'friend'.

* * *

><p>I just couldn't resist. Isn't Munna cute? :D<p> 


	19. Small Talk

Munna is personally one of my favorite characters. It represents all those morons in life that don't really appear to understand the meaning of the words 'get lost'. But it's cute, so that's alright.

* * *

><p>Alder grinned as the two of them traveled on Route 3. While in Striaton city, Singed had again lost his temper with Munna, which caused a misunderstanding from the public that resulted in them thinking Singed was going to beat them with a crowbar. Even now, Singed was still attempting to get the unusual Munna off of his head.<p>

Alder himself had a few theories for Munna's actions. The most outlandish one that was still possible was that Munna had eaten Singed's nightmares, which had actually been so horrible they had damaged its mind. Of course, that left out many important facts. Maybe it enjoyed the dreams so much it was still trying to suck them out of Singed's head even though he was awake? Or was it simpler than that, was it a very young Munna that truly _did_ see Singed as a friend? The possibilities were endless.

Eventually, Alder sighed. "I heard about Houndoom." Singed immediately sobered up, and looked the other way. "So long as she's happy, I'm happy. It's as simple as that." Alder grinned as he raised an eyebrow. "Really? I think it's a bit more complex than that." Singed flinched as Alder gave a slight grin. "No, that's as simple as it goes. That's how I work."

Alder raised an eyebrow again. "Are you certain? Then why did it take you two days to get from one route-during which the daycare reported strange sounds coming from the cave-to Striaton?" Singed paled then looked the other way. "I . . . I listened a bit too much to a Plasma Grunt." Alder gave Singed a sympathetic smile.

"It may surprise you to know that I have experienced a loss before. My starter Pokémon died of illness." Singed flinched as he looked back at Alder. When he spoke, Singed's voice held quite a bit of pain. "It's different. You've lost one thing. I keep on losing things, over and over again. First it was Pidgeotto, then my father was killed in a car accident, then it was Houndoom's mother, then it was _my_ mother . . . now it's Houndoom. She was the last thing I had."

"Mun?" Alder grinned as Singed looked up. "Oh, don't even get me _started_ with you." While Singed still kept on pulling half-heartedly at Munna every now and then, it was surprising how quickly he was accepting Munna's presence. Eventually, Singed sighed. "It's just . . . I tried so hard not to lose her, and to make her happy. Now she's happy, but . . . I've lost her as well. I . . . I don't know what to do."

Alder gave a sympathetic smile to Singed. "Singed, the first thing you have to do is admit that Houndoom not only needed you, you needed her." Singed looked away, his cheeks burning scarlet. "I . . . I . . . I know." Alder gave another smile as Munna gave a sympathetic-sounding 'Mun' to Singed. For the first time, Singed let it go un-insulted.

For a bit, Singed didn't speak. Then out of the blue, he did. "You're right." Alder looked at Singed in surprise, but Singed's eyes were tearing up. "That's the problem. I need to accept that she doesn't need me anymore, and I need to move on. But . . . it's not that simple. Did she ever need me, or did I need her all of this time? She always ended up saving me."

Alder sighed. "You must understand, even if she didn't need you for her own survival your well-being was necessary for her to be happy. You both guarded the other with no respect to your _own_ lives. For instance, Houndoom never _had_ to dodge an attack before, did she? That's because you always willingly shield her with your own body. The same goes to you."

Singed eyed Alder curiously, "What does that have to do with the problem?" Alder gave a small grin. "I mean that in your eyes, your own life is of little importance. Am I right?" Singed nodded. "If I had to give up my life . . . well, who would miss me?" Munna immediately gave another 'Mun', and Singed looked up at it, frustrated. "Oh, you don't count." Alder suddenly detected movement a little distance away from them, and was astounded when he saw a Serperior's tail dart out of sight. No, it couldn't be. Had Singed befriended . . . Alder found a smile coming to his face at the thought.

"Singed, you'd be surprised at who exactly sees you as a friend. You may not believe you're much to the world, but you may be the world to some." Alder grinned as he spotted the daycare. "Alright, this is my stop. You want to come with? I'm sure that Munna will be a hit." Singed gave Alder a glare. "Yeah-no. I'm _still_ waiting for the crowbar." Alder grinned as he went up the stairs to the daycare. He watched as Singed went along his way, no longer grabbing at the Munna on his head.


	20. Changes

Singed was still pondering what Alder had said when Munna gave a cry of shock. Singed immediately focused. As he noticed a fight a good deal ahead of him, he got out of sight and got closer. He saw a Pokémon remarkably like a zebra fighting a Pokémon that looked a good deal like a bomb with legs, made out of rocks. From what it said, the bomb-like one was a Roggenrola. The zebra one was a Blitzle, and it fought valiantly.

Singed gnashed his teeth as the trainer taunted the Blitzle, stating that it was 'stupid' because it couldn't use any attacks that weren't very effective. In exchange, the Blitzle repeatedly used Charge, then Shockwave. However, the Roggenrola managed to succeed. Even then, the trainer had the _gall_ to state to the Roggenrola that it shouldn't have taken so much damage from the Blitzle when it was _entirely _the trainer's fault.

Singed didn't even realize Munna had detached from his head, he was too angry himself. As Munna went over to the Blitzle, Singed stood up, revealing that he was there. Just like always happened when Singed showed his presence, the trainer's bravado disappeared. As the Trainer and his Roggenrola dashed out of sight, Singed walked over to the Blitzle. As he looked it over, Munna watched with worried eyes. Singed sighed, partially in relief. "It doesn't look too bad, he should be alright in about three days."

Munna gave a 'friend' of despair, and Singed frowned. "Wait, are you asking me to work on making it better! What do you think I am, some sort of-" Munna timed it perfectly. "Mun." Singed froze then shook his head. "I don't know what I was expecting you to say. Of course you think I'm your friend, but then again I'm not entirely certain you know the difference between 'friend', 'food', 'carnival ride' or 'toy'." Munna looked back at the Blitzle and it got Singed to sigh. "Fine. If mainly because I have nothing better to do today."

Munna smiled as Singed looked Blitzle over, noting just where the injuries were. "Alright, I think I know what to make to speed this up. I'm going to need a few berries, though. You willing to help me hunt, Munna?" Munna nodded, dancing around Singed's head. Singed couldn't help it when he chuckled, Munna's joyful personality was almost contagious.

After getting over to some trees, Singed found some Oran berries. "Ok, you see these? We'll need a few of these. Also . . . ah, here we go" Singed next showed Munna a Leppa berry. "These are used to increase energy to act, while Oran are used to give energy to heal. I'll need . . . seven Oran berries and two of the Leppa berries. Extra are appreciated, but not necessary. Munna got Singed to smile when she immediately flew up, then caught Singed by surprise when she almost immediately found ten Oran berries. "Huh, you're pretty good at spotting these."

Munna smiled, and Singed got out an old bowl he used for making natural potions. "Ok, this should d-" That's when it clicked. Munna was no longer on Singed's head. He looked up at Munna in shock, and Munna cocked her head. Singed could only smile. "What, is my head suddenly not a good enough throne for you?" Munna's eyes sparkled with joy as Singed tapped his head, immediately obliging. What could Singed say, if Munna was going to tick him off it may as well go the extra mile.

Munna watched as Singed mixed the berries into makeshift potions then walked over to Blitzle. With Munna's help, Singed got the potion down Blitzle's throat. For most of that day, Singed stayed next to the Blitzle, speaking to Munna to pass the time. "I know a Houndoom that meant a lot to me. Granted, most everyone thinks that we're cold-hearted murderers, but we never _did_ kill a person, _or_ a Pokémon."

Singed continued to talk about some of their more interesting encounters, noting the time a trainer sent out a Charizard. "Now see, a Charizard got me mad once, so I decided to teach that one a lesson. Suffice to say, it ended with that Charizard traumatizing me. I just freeze up whenever I see one, so they were _always_ Houndoom's first target. I can take seeing one that had fainted, but I freeze up any time that I see one flying. The one that I tried to attack had a scar on the left side of their face, and I left a matching one on the right side of their face. It's nothing big, just a small cut." Night came quickly, and Singed was feeling well enough to even give his blanket to the Blitzle. As he himself fell asleep, he grinned at the Munna now in his arms. "Alright Munna, dinner is served."


	21. Heart of Stone?

It's been entirely too long since Team Plasma and Singed have crossed paths, so . . . ta-da!

* * *

><p>Singed woke to a snout in his face. He grinned as he looked up to see the Blitzle standing, good as new. "Morning." As Singed got up, finding Munna on his head, he grinned. "You full up there?" Munna nodded happily, again calling Singed 'friend'. As Singed chuckled, the Blitzle deeply startled him by also stating 'friend'. Singed smiled at it. "You're welcome."<p>

As he got up and got ready to leave, he noticed the Blitzle looking at him. Singed smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I just don't have enough space on my head for you to ride around as well." The Blitzle snorted in amusement, and when Singed waved goodbye the Blitzle nodded. Soon, Singed was back on his way to . . . well, wherever he felt like going. First off, he wanted to find Serperior. As much of a royal pain in the Ponyta she was, Serperior _had_ helped him during a tough time for him.

But as he entered Nacrene city, he frowned when he saw Team Plasma giving a speech. Ugh, for . . . when Munna gave an inquisitive 'friend' at team Plasma, Singed grinned. "_Definitely_ not. They want to keep humans and Pokémon separated. I don't have a good reputation with them, so we're going to just blow past this group."

Munna made Singed nod, getting Singed to grin. The two of them slipped past the group, and got ready to get to the forest. As it came in sight, Singed grinned broadly. "Alright Munna, I want to introduce you to a fr-OHYOUSONOFA-" As Singed had been speaking, something tried to grab Munna off of his head. Because Munna was firmly attached, that meant that Singed almost got his head ripped off. As he turned around, rubbing his head and Munna, he flinched as he saw the culprit.

It was the same Grunt from before, the one that had told Singed to just let Houndoom go. As she cringed, Singed frowned. "Damn it, woman! Munna _stays_ on my head!" The Grunt frowned. "So you get done making your Houndoom suffer just to find a new victim!" Singed immediately rejected that idea. "_First_ off, I did _not_ make Houndoom suffer. _Second_, I _tried_ to get Munna to stop following me. Personally I think she wants me for a food source." The Grunt frowned as she grabbed out a pokéball. "No! I won't allow you to abuse a Pokémon like that!" Singed rolled his eyes. "Abuse a-_it's on MY head!_ How is that abuse to _Munna_?"

The Grunt wouldn't listen, and as Singed watched a strange cat-like Pokémon was released from the ball. The Grunt grinned as she ordered Fury-Swipes, but to Singed's shock the cat hissed at the Grunt. When it spoke, revealing its name to be Purrloin, Singed's eyes opened wide. "I was _right, _ you _are_ just thieves!"

The female grunt, and even the Purrloin, jumped at that. Singed grinned as he spoke. "_You_ may not tell me, but I can hear Purrloin loud and clear. 'You are not my master, where is my master!'" As the Purrloin's eyes opened wide, a smile forming on its face, the Grunt's eyes opened wide. "You _forced_ them to teach you their language!"

Singed shook his head. "No, I was _taught_ their language. You'd be surprised what you can learn from Pokémon." The Grunt grimaced, but suddenly the Purrloin spoke. '_Behind!_' Singed turned around just in time to block a hit from a strange blue Pokémon wearing robes. "Hey! What's your problem?" As the Pokémon spoke, revealing its own name to be Sawk, Singed frowned. "Oh, this just got interesting."

As the Sawk tried to continue with a punch to the face, Singed blocked it, cringing at this Pokémon's power. He heard the Grunt behind him speak frantically. "What does it want?" Singed cringed as he blocked a kick, _damn_ this Sawk was strong! "Remember when you tried to yank Munna off of my head?" As the Sawk tried to do a low sweep Singed butterfly-kicked himself over it, landing behind the Sawk. As he tried to follow up, the Sawk blocked him with little effort. This was _bad,_ Singed could tell already this Sawk was a fighting-type. As strong as he was, this Sawk was _literally_ superior to his strength by its very type!

"Yes, so?" Singed grunted as the Sawk tried to nail him in the head with its foot, Singed _barely_ getting his arms up in the way to take the brunt of the hit. "My cry of pain interrupted it's training, and it will _not_ be calmed down until it has paid us back ten-" Singed gave a cry of pain as the Sawk darted under his guard, scoring a powerful punch to the stomach. As Singed doubled over in pain, he saw the Sawk going for a Karate Chop.

Time seemed to stop for Singed. He couldn't beat this Sawk. Fortunately, it looked like it would change targets to the Grunt after knocking Singed out, so he could still live through it. Just like always, there was no need to dodge. But as his head involuntarily shuddered, Singed realized Munna was still on his head. The Sawk may have been aiming for Singed, but if it continued the attack, a Karate Chop to Singed's head, Munna would be the one taking the blow!

Singed didn't bother to tell Munna to move. She was too frightened, her tiny legs were almost digging into Singed's scalp as she held on for dear life. He couldn't take the hit, tilting his head so he would take the blow instead of Munna would be _fatal_! The Karate Chop would snap his neck like a twig! When time flowed again, Singed was startled as he moved to the side, the Karate Chop whistling past him.

Singed dared a look over where the Grunt had been. He wasn't surprised to see her running away, but she tripped and Singed saw what must have been Purrloins' pokéball (unless most Pokéballs had that little heart-sticker on them) drop to the ground. Without trying to pick it up, the Grunt got back up and dashed away. When Singed re-focused on the Sawk, he realized he had taken too long. The Sawk kicked his legs out from under him with a Low-Sweep, and as Singed fell the Sawk followed up with a Karate-Chop to the gut.

Singed slammed into the ground in quite a bit of pain, _damn_ this thing could hit hard! "_**SAAAWWWKKK!**_" Singed looked up to see the Sawk bringing down its arm again, aiming this time for Singed's forehead. It wasn't going for a kill, but it was _certainly_ going to knock him out. However, Singed flinched as four paws pressed onto his chest. "_Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrr_" Singed watched in shock as the Purrloin leapt off of his chest at the Sawk. "_**LOIN!**_" The Sawk was clearly just as startled when the Purrloin began using Fury Swipes, scoring a direct hit to the Sawk's face. As the Sawk cried out in shock and pain the Purrloin soon landed on the ground, hissing its anger. Singed had to hurry, even _he_ could tell that this was a _bad_ match-up!

But he just wasn't fast enough. As the Purrloin leapt up at the Sawk again, the Sawk hit the poor cat in the side with a Low Sweep. Purrloin slammed into a nearby tree, but even as Purrloin hit the ground Sawk finished up with a powerful Karate Chop. Singed cringed, the Sawk had _nailed_ a weak spot. The Purrloin needed help!

Singed didn't even notice as he got back up. As the Sawk got ready to use what was clearly Brick Break, Singed interrupted it by slugging it in the face. As the Sawk was busy with that, Singed quickly checked over the Purrloin. It needed help _badly_, especially with- Singed gulped as he turned around, the Sawk had clearly recovered from the hit and was now about to nail him in the gut.

"_Mun!_" The Sawk suddenly froze, at first Singed thought maybe it was startled at Munna saying 'friend' like that. But as a beam suddenly shot from above Singed's head, Singed suddenly realized Munna had had _quite_ enough of Sawk. The powerful Psybeam threw the Sawk back a good distance, and knocked it out.

For a bit, Singed just stood there shocked. Eventually, he sighed. "I didn't know you could do that. Nice save, Munna." He didn't criticize Munna for not doing it sooner. After all, the poor thing had been _terrified_. Not only that, as much as Singed was beginning to like this Munna . . . well, intelligence didn't seem to be its strong point. At the very least, it had knocked Sawk out.

Singed looked down at the Purrloin, and soon nodded to himself. "Alright Munna, let's see if we can help this Purrloin out." Munna gave an excited 'Mun' again. But after Singed looked at the Sawk, he sighed. "First though, we're going to have to relocate. I don't like the idea of dealing with the Sawk after it wakes up, it's going to be _mad_."


	22. The Fortunate Encounter

Singed grinned as he walked over to a few trees. Without even waiting for Singed to ask, Munna got off of Singed's head. He could only shake his head in amusement as Munna looked at him expectantly. "Alright, we're going to need a good deal of berries. The more the better, but 20 Oran berries should do. We only need one Leppa berry since Purrloin only used Fury Swipes once."

Munna nodded, and Singed looked back down at the Purrloin in his arms. For about the third time, Singed looked at the pokéball he had picked up, Purrloin's pokéball to be exact. He was paranoid of losing it, but . . . well, he knew that Purrloin should probably be inside of it right now. Not that it mattered, Singed knew nothing about pokéballs. Eventually, he set the Purrloin down, gently wrapping his blanket around it to give it a place to rest. While Munna could go as far into the trees as she wanted Singed would stay close to Purrloin to keep from losing sight of it.

It was only when Singed reached up to grab the Oran berry that he remembered Purrloin wasn't the only one hurt. Singed was forced to bite back a whimper as his side screamed for mercy at him reaching up like that. Damn it, that Sawk had hit him hard! Maybe if he grabbed with his left arm-Singed immediately let out a whimper. That was a no-go.

"Hello there, young 'un." Singed flinched as he turned then gasped as his side yet again screamed at him for doing so. As he clutched at it, gnashing his teeth at his pain, he inwardly cursed. He was in no position to defend himself! Then again, the voice had sounded . . . aged. It sounded like an old woman, old enough to pass for a grandmother. Singed flinched as an aged hand came into view, catching him completely off-guard as the woman slightly lifted his shirt and inspected the bruise. "Ouch, that looks painful."

Singed looked up into a pair of worried eyes, attached to a kind old woman that had one hand still holding up Singed's shirt and one hand grasping a cane. As she let go she spoke. "Well, I know a thing or two about being a nurse, m' boy. You just rest and-" No, Singed . . . "I appreciate the offer, but someone else here needs more medical attention then I do."

The old lady flinched. "Oh, don't worry your head about me, I'm not just some weak old l-" Singed shook his head with a slight smile. "No, no. Over there." Singed looked over at where Purrloin was resting. It kept on having moments where it would twitch slightly, clearly in pain even through its dreams.

"Oh! I see. I'm sorry, but I'm not good with p-" Singed grinned as he heard a 'Mun' then turned to see Munna floating over to them, her basket completely full of Oran berries. As she handed it to Singed, he grinned. "I know how to create medicine out of berries, but most of it only works for Pokémon. Good job, Munna." Munna smiled at Singed, exclaiming 'Mun' in its joy. Singed could only chuckle as he grabbed out his pestle and mortar.

As he worked on mixing the berries together, he smiled at Munna. "Sorry, I can't reach the trees like this. Can you find a Leppa berry?" Munna nodded happily, and not more than fifteen seconds later Munna came back with a Leppa berry. As Singed put it into the mix, he went back to work. Once he had it ground up enough, he mixed in a bit of water. While not important to the medicine itself, it helped to dilute the strong taste it would have. Once it was ready, Singed had Munna help him by holding Purrloin's head up, and Singed eased the mix down Purrloin's throat.

Once that was settled, Singed reached for Purrloin to pick her up. However, he was startled when he felt the woman's hand on his shoulder. He almost blushed, he had completely forgotten about her as he had worked. She smiled at him though. "All that's left to do is let it work, right?" Singed nodded. "See, this isn't actually . . . _my_ Purrloin. It was stolen by a Plasma Grunt, and I . . . well, I'm no thief."

The old woman smiled. "That's very noble, but you have to remember that you also are hurt. Take off the shirt and let this old woman tend to your wounds." Singed sighed as he complied. As the woman looked him over, Singed gave a slight grin. He hadn't been to a doctor in _years, _yet the old woman's search-over certainly reminded him of a checkup. After noting that Singed had taken quite a beating, the old woman tightly bandaged Singed's stomach. Soon doing the same to parts of his arms and his legs, she stated that the best thing to do was to let it heal on its own.

By this time, Purrloin had finally awoken. However, it was still too hurt to stand, so after getting his shirt back on Singed gently lifted up the Purrloin. He sighed, next up . . . well, he couldn't expect Purrloin to speak at the moment. Right when he was about to walk away, the old lady spoke again. "By the way, on the news I heard of a little girl that lost her Purrloin to Team Plasma. She said something about it having a heart on its pokéball." Singed flinched as he grabbed the pokéball out, looking at the heart on top of it. Now he knew exactly what to look for, but . . . "Did it say where to find the girl?"

The old lady nodded. "She's at the daycare during the day, then Nacrene City at night." Singed sighed, ok then. Now he knew what he had to do. He had to go to a place with _children_, walk up to them . . . yeah, there was a problem with this. "I'm sorry, but . . . could you bring Purrloin there?" He looked up at the old woman, who seemed shocked. "Hey, I may be strong for an old woman but I can't carry even something as light as a Purrloin."

Singed cringed, to go around . . . _children_! It wasn't the children he was worried about, of course. It was the reactions from their parents that he'd undoubtedly get. "Well, I . . . I have a _bad_ reputation around . . . well, everywhere at the moment. I-I _really_ think it would be a _very_ bad idea for me to go around children." The old woman frowned as she looked Singed over. "Really? 'Cause I don't recognize you in the slightest." Singed wasn't that surprised, he actually had figured that out. "Well . . . i-it's probably best that way. I've done a lot of stuff I . . . well, that I'm not proud of."

The old woman smiled as she gently rubbed a hand on Purrloin's head. "Really? Let's go through what you have done in front of me. Even when injured in what even I can tell was an attempt to defend Purrloin, you ignored your own state so you could focus on Purrloin's condition. To me, that has 'hero' written _all_ over it."

Singed felt his ears turn scarlet. "H-hero? Well . . . look, my name is Singed." He expected that to solve it, for the woman to cover her mouth in horror, to have a heart-attack and keel over on the spot, or . . . he just didn't expect the smile that appeared on her face. "I can't believe I didn't recognize you!" Singed flinched, just how could a native to Unova say that with _joy_!

It was only when the lady spoke more that Singed realized he was wrong. "You are the one that was on the news . . . however long ago. You found out what was causing that Houndour to be so lonely, what was causing the Houndoom to be so angry, _you _are the one that reunited them! And then . . . then the Houndoom's mother died, then . . . the news stated your house was struck by a Pokémon's flames."

Singed paled, the lady was from _Johto_! She frowned as she looked at Singed again. "The news noted that it was so strange, your mother was found dead but you disappeared. I always thought that if that was me, I'd like to get some payback against the Pokémon." Singed gave a grin as he rubbed his right arm. "Heh, one young boy versus a Charizard . . . i-it wasn't my best idea. If Houndour didn't intervene when she did . . ." Singed shuddered, then sighed. "Long story short, we became . . . maybe a bit _too_ devoted to each other's safety. It only took one insult and we'd both attack the person that _dared_ to say it."

Singed looked back at the forest, he felt so close yet so far away from Houndoom. Something _had _changed, he wasn't the same person that used to be so cold to everyone that wasn't Houndoom. Still . . . Singed sighed. "Suffice to say, when Houndoom fell in love and I suddenly found myself alone . . . she took every last ounce of courage I had with her."

The lady gave Singed a sympathetic smile. "So people are afraid of you? I guess I can see why you would be fearful of going _specifically_ to see a child, it would look bad from everyone else's point of view. But . . ." The old woman sighed, then looked at Singed. "You're a good boy, Singed. No matter what others think of you, you have a good heart. If you want to fix your reputation, well . . . you have to start somewhere, right?" Singed gave a slight smile at that, she _did_ have a point . . . ugh, this was going to be interesting. "Alright, I guess I don't really have a choice."


	23. The Right Thing

Singed sighed as he saw the Route in front of him. How he had managed to get through Nacrene town without being seen, he would never know. Still . . . as he looked at the Purrloin resting in his arms, he sighed. How was he going to pull this off? After a bit of thought, he grinned. He wasn't going to pull it off by just staring at the Route in front of him.

With a sigh, Singed resumed walking. He still had a lot to think about, what exactly did he want to do with his life now? He no longer felt like just throwing it away, but . . . he never really gave much thought to the future since he lost his mother. She . . . no, he had to move on from that. What did he want to be now?

It clearly had to be _something_ with Pokémon, there was no way he was going to stay away from them. He just . . . he felt he could understand Pokémon better than people. Whether it was the fact that he had spent so long doting on Houndoom (not that he regretted it, he still wanted her back) or if it was something as simple as the fact that he could speak the Pokémon language, Singed knew his place was next to theirs. But what jobs would allow him to work side-by-side with Pokémon? Well, he could always try to run something like a day-care for Pokémon. A Pokémon trainer was out of the question, he still refused to believe a pokéball was anything good.

Singed gulped as he reached the split in the path, looking to his right he could see the daycare pretty clearly. Singed looked the other way, what if he just waited for Purrloin to get better, which shouldn't take long, then allow it to walk back on its own? No, that was cruel to Purrloin. Besides . . . since when did Singed care about what others thought about him?

It took all the effort he could muster to begin walking over to the Daycare. He saw, even from far off, that the children were outside, playing on slides and swings with some supervisors watching them. He could tell which child was the one that owned the Purrloin. She was the one sitting by herself, looking like her entire world had come to an end. Crying in the corner of the playground farthest away from the Daycare entrance, she was far enough out of sight that when the supervisors saw Singed and immediately took 'all' the children inside, the girl was unintentionally overlooked.

Singed gulped, he knew how this was going to look from the supervisor's eyes. One boy with a murderous attitude towards life walking over to a little girl . . . they probably wouldn't even make the connection between the Purrloin in the boy's hands and the girl he was approaching. And as Singed timidly climbed the steps . . . what if this _wasn't_ the girl?

What if this one just had that attitude towards life, or . . . well, there could be other things causing that attitude other than losing a Pokémon to thieves, right? Yeah, maybe this wasn't a good idea, maybe he . . . no, no. He couldn't allow himself to just back away from this. Even if this wasn't the girl, she probably had been here when the Purrloin was stolen. She probably knew who owned it, and she could take it from here.

Singed knew he couldn't just walk into the daycare. He'd get his ass thrown out and/or terrify all the children, leaving QUITE a few parents angry at him. And if ANYTHING could defeat the old Singed, it would be parents defending their child. Singed gulped, almost smiling at the irony of the situation. Here he was, the big, bad Singed, nervous of walking up to a girl that barely reached his waist in height.

Forcing himself to walk up to the girl, who was completely oblivious to his presence, Singed thought of what to say. 'Hi, I decided to stop attempting to murder people and turn superhero'? Yeah . . . no, not going to happen. Umm . . . 'Excuse me, I happened to find this Purrloin while I was mercilessly beating the shit out of a Grunt, is it yours?'

No, he had to avoid . . . ugh, what was _wrong_ with him! Heck, the child probably didn't even . . . ugh, he'd have to just let it turn out whatever way it did. When Singed was only about two feet away from the girl, he let himself get down to eye-level with her. She was crying, completely unaware that Singed was right next to her. Ok, it was now or never. "Is this your Purrloin?" The girl turned around with a speed that almost got Singed to yelp, and as her eyes focused on the Purrloin sleeping in Singed's arms they opened wide. Singed grinned as he gently set the Purrloin down then held out the pokéball that he knew now belonged to the girl. "Here you go."

Singed wasn't prepared for the girl to rush at him, and as he found her arms wrapped around his neck he wasn't certain on how he should react. When the girl looked him in the eyes, he smiled warmly at the joy on her face. "Thank you so much." Singed smiled as he gently rubbed the girl's shoulder. "You're welcome"

After the girl let go, she then picked up Purrloin tenderly. Singed smiled as he got back up, then turned to find Munna floating close by. Munna had a huge smile on its face as the two of them looked back at the girl, who was giving her Purrloin a very tender look. After Singed made sure the girl had the Purrloin's pokéball, he and Munna turned to leave.

He turned right in time to see a good-sized bird closing in on him. Before Singed could even flinch, the bird slammed into him, sending him sailing right over the girl and causing him to stumble to a stop. He didn't even need to look up to know what he would find, but he did anyways. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a man and a woman, QUITE likely the girl's parents. That made the bird their Pokémon.

"What are you doing here, _Singed_? It's not enough to-" While the father was going to continue, the girl jumped over the fence, her now-awake Purrloin right behind her as she ran over to her parents. "Daddy, _stop!_" As the man and the woman looked at the girl, their eyes went wide when they saw the girl's Purrloin.

"Huh? But you said Team Plasma-" The girl and her Purrloin put themselves between the girl's parents and Singed. "He got Purrloin back!" The girl's parents froze in complete shock as they looked at Singed, who was more focused on the pain in his gut. He quickly looked to the side as he coughed up some blood, _damn_ that hit hurt! That was _right_ where the Sawk had nailed him with that Karate Chop!

When Singed finally managed to shake off the pain, he found the girl's parents looking dumbfounded. He could only grin. "How cruel do you think I am? I draw the line _long_ before Pokémon thievery." Singed turned around, and soon he and Munna were leaving the girl, the Purrloin, and the girl's baffled parents behind them.

When Munna looked at Singed with confused eyes, Singed grinned. "Hey, it went better than I thought it would. All I got was one strong hit to the stomach. I was more worried about taking a hit that would prove fatal. I know how far some will go to defend those they deem precious." Singed winced as his stomach protested, whatever that flying Pokémon was . . . _wow_ that was a hard hit. He was pretty certain he had just been Sky-Attacked. Oh, well. He could shake it off, next up he wanted to go back to . . . to . . . well, he still wanted to visit Houndoom to let her know he was alright.


	24. The Meaning Of Fear

Singed frowned when he and Munna entered Nacrene city. According to the large crowd in the middle of the city, Team Plasma was at it again. "So join us, and-" Singed grinned as he cut into the speech. "'So join us while we rob Pokémon from their trainers and follow our ridiculous dreams'" Each and every head turned to Singed, who simply grinned as the Plasma Grunts frowned. "_**You again**_?" Singed grinned wider as Munna floated next to him. "Don't sound so disappointed, you'll hurt my feelings."

Singed flinched as he saw an Ace trainer run into view. One of the Plasma Grunts-the same one that Singed had spoken to _twice_ now-let out a slight curse as the trainer glared at her. "_There_ you are, you _thief!_" Much of the crowd stood back a bit now as the Grunt cringed. The trainer surprised Singed by speaking more to that grunt. "Give it back, you have NO idea what you're trying to control!" The Grunt grinned as she grabbed out a pokéball. Singed wanted to intervene, but . . . well, he only had Munna to help him right now. While she was strong, Singed didn't want to make her intervene.

The Ace trainer called out a Golduck, the Plasma Grunt sent out . . . oh no. Singed froze as the Pokémon formed, he knew that form! It was a . . . the Charizard immediately flew into the air, firing a powerful flamethrower to the heavens. No, Singed had to calm down . . . i-it was just any old Charizard, it couldn't be . . . no, he . . . ugh! MOVE DAMN IT! But try as he might, Singed couldn't get himself to look anywhere else, the memories started flooding his thoughts . . . wait. On its snout! No! It couldn't be, this was . . . _it had the scars!_

As it searched the area, Singed found himself back in Johto, approaching the sleeping Charizard, knife in hand . . . he remembered it waking up, that the only thing Singed got was a small cut in its snout . . . _oh, no! _I-it was the same one! Wait-he had to calm down, he had to get out of sight before-

But it was too late. As the Charizard looked around, its eyes locked with Singed. Time seemed to stop, and Singed . . . he couldn't believe it. It was the same Charizard. After all this time, they had crossed paths . . . a-and _this_ time, Houndoom wasn't there to save him! Singed took one step back, but he knew it was useless. The Charizard recognized him, and it was going to finish the job it had started so long ago. As it dove, Singed cowered in fear. _He didn't want to die!_

It seemed to take forever to reach him, but Singed couldn't move. His feet had frozen to the spot, he couldn't tell where he was anymore. Was this Nacrene city, or that forest clearing! He couldn't tell, he didn't know, his body refused to move! But no matter where it was, the Charizard got closer, closer, and Singed knew that wherever he was right now was going to be the area he died.

He saw the Charizard bring back one clawed hand and he turned his head as the Charizard raked its claws against Singed's face. He screamed in pain as his blood began to flow from the three wounds left behind. As the crowd all went dead silent, the Charizard followed up with a matching wound on the other side of Singed's face. Singed knew he was in trouble, and as the Charizard grabbed him by the throat and unfurled its wings, Singed knew what was about to happen. It was the same thing the Charizard had done so long ago.

Clenching Singed's throat tightly, the Charizard took off. Singed couldn't look down, he had no idea how high up in the air he was right now. But as the Charizard took him higher and higher, he shuddered in fear. It didn't matter how high it went, the Charizard was in the air, this was its territory no matter which region it was in. He saw the cruel grin it wore as it relinquished its hold. As the Charizard took off in a different direction, Singed gulped. It was going to be a _long_ way down.

He felt the wind rushing past him, but he focused. Which direction was it going to be coming from! He soon got his answer when his back screamed in agony. The Charizard was attacking from below, and it had just scored a direct hit with a Hyper-Beam. The force sent Singed catapulting even higher into the air, and managed to flip him over. Singed's heart dropped when he looked down, at the tiny town possibly MILES below him. This wasn't going to end well.

Singed saw an orange blur, and tried to keep it in sight. As it shot up past him, Singed knew what was coming next. The Charizard flew above him, then dived down, raking his gut with its claws as it passed him. Before Singed could recover, it did the same thing from behind him. Singed couldn't help it, he opened his mouth and screamed as he plummeted to the ground. While he willingly cut it off long before he was going to hit the ground, he looked up to see the cruel smirk on the Charizard's face.

When he turned around unwillingly, he saw that he was _fast_ approaching the ground. So this was how it was going to end. He was finally paying for the mistake he had made so long ago, the night he dared to disturb the Charizard's slumber. He saw everyone's horrified eyes as they watched him fall, he saw Munna . . . _glowing?_

Singed forced himself to focus, and . . . yeah, Munna was glowing. That was about when . . . it felt sort of like a gentle hand from below was pushing him up, slowing his descent. And . . . was this Munna's doing? If it was . . . yeah, it was. Singed looked himself over, he had the same glow Munna did. Munna was trying to save him. He slowed to a stop about three feet from the ground, and he found himself grinning. Not _bad_, Munna. Not bad at all.

But whether it was part of her attack, Singed wasn't getting any lower. Maybe Munna wasn't certain he had stopped falling yet? As Singed heard the furious roar, he quickly turned to see the Charizard closing in. Munna may have stopped the fall, but she couldn't stop Charizard.

When Charizard got down to the building tops Singed saw its eyes open in shock. Singed froze in shock as a glowing, blade-like tail snuck out from in-between buildings, perfectly intercepting the Charizard's flight path and forcing it into a roll. Singed could only grin as he felt his feet touch ground, but winced as his grin agitated the wounds on the sides of his face.

A green blur shot into view from in-between the buildings near Singed, and he gave a slight smile as Serperior followed up with another Leaf Blade to Charizard, sending it back a bit. Serperior gave a slight smile as it looked at Singed. 'A queen is nothing without those that follow her rule.' Singed shook his head as he looked at her. As vain as ever, but she had good reason to be. When the Charizard roared again, Singed turned to see the Charizard's mouth was glowing. Singed closed his eyes, this Hyper-Beam was going to go right to his face!

He heard the Charizard fire, but . . . he didn't feel the hit. His eyes opened when he heard a horse snicker. He couldn't believe it when he found a Rapidash facing him. 'What's the matter, Singed?' Singed turned to see ST and Gardevoir facing the Charizard. The Charizard was still using Hyper-Beam, but it was being held back by Gardevoir's Reflect.

Just when Reflect appeared to be cracking, a yellow shockwave passed by them, hitting the Charizard hard and forcing it to stop the Hyper-Beam. Wait, that . . . _Blitzle!_ Singed turned to see the zebra Pokémon there, a grin on its face as well. But as the Charizard let out another furious roar, Singed turned to see it take to the sky. As Serperior, Munna, Blitzle, Rapidash, Gardevoir, ST, and Singed looked for where it would appear next, Singed heard a roar behind him. Uh-oh.

"Druddigon, go!" Singed turned around as the Charizard got closer, but then a good-sized Dragon-type Pokémon dashed into the way and took the hit. As it turned it's almost ridiculously red head to face Singed, Singed turned to find out who had sent it . . . _Alder_! The man grinned at Singed while his Druddigon tossed the Charizard back slightly.

"_**LOIN!**_" Singed flinched as he saw Purrloin drop onto Charizard's head from above, scratching at its face before leaping back up to safety. Singed couldn't believe it. _Everyone_ had shown up to help him! Here he was, surrounded by just about everyone he met here, and they were _shielding_ him from the Charizard! As the Charizard stood there, Serperior shot up to it and gave another Leaf-Blade, causing the Charizard to fall over. The Charizard didn't get back up. Had they . . . won?

"Oh, dear." Singed turned to see the Team Plasma Grunts slowly starting to back away, and Singed frowned. As he became aware of the wounds he had, and of the blood staining his clothes, he knew he couldn't chase-

"_**DOOM!**_" "_**MIGHT!**_" Singed's eyes opened wide, he almost forgot about the Grunts now flying through the air. He couldn't help it, he smiled even though it hurt. Houndoom and Mightyena stood there, both of them grinning at each other. Singed felt tears coming from his eyes as he saw Houndoom smile at him.

It was only when Singed heard the almost inaudible growl behind him that he realized it wasn't over. Before anyone else could, Singed turned around. The Charizard was heavily injured, it was lying on its side, but its head was off the ground, its eyes still holding the murderous hatred it felt towards Singed. It didn't register to Singed that its mouth was glowing until too late, and as the Hyper-Beam struck him Singed blacked out.

* * *

><p>I worked HARD on this part. I felt like a little kid while writing it, I still can't believe how well it turned out. Just in case there's any doubt, there WILL be more<p> 


	25. Regal Conversation

Serperior gave an exasperated sigh as she found Houndoom, _again_, peeping through the hospital window. Before speaking to her, Serperior also snuck a glance at the boy on the bed. The poor child was heavily bandaged and hadn't woken up since the _vile_ Charizard had attempted to rip Singed to pieces. The only ones allowed in there were the humans and the strange Munna. Of course, the Munna was actually because it refused to leave Singed.

Eventually, Serperior gave Houndoom a careful eye. "I apologize for our earlier encounter." Houndoom answered without looking away from Singed. "I-it's alright, if it wasn't for you I'd never have met Mightyena. But . . . did I do the right thing?" Serperior gave a kind smile as Houndoom finally turned to look at her, worry in her tear-filled eyes. Serperior sighed. "Your servant needed it."

Serperior was amused as fire leapt from Houndoom's eyes, and Houndoom got into a fighting stance. "_He is __**not**__ my servant!_ Singed is my friend!" Serperior chuckled as she shook her head. Some had such a difficult time accepting reality. "Listen to me, Houndoom. I've heard enough from Alder to know that _you_ were the one holding the reigns. Call him what you will, Houndoom, Singed is NOT a leader. He's a follower. You are his queen, his one joy in life."

Serperior put her head lower than Houndoom's to show she was not attempting to initiate a scuffle. "Houndoom, when you met your love Singed was thrown into a new kind of problem. On one hand, he saw your joy as his absolute top priority. On the other, in order to appease your joy he had to leave."

Serperior smiled as Houndoom shook her head. "I'm not asking about that! I need to know . . . did I _ever_ make the right choice?" Serperior gestured with her tail for Houndoom to elaborate. Houndoom sighed as she started to pace, she was clearly trying to rid herself of a great burden. "I was the one that suggested we stow away. Everything he's done since the loss of his mother, he's done for me. I-it's almost _sick_, I practically turned him into my slave!"

Serperior could only smile, so Houndoom had begun thinking about her actions just as Singed had thought about his. Serperior had her own theories, but she needed to know. "Houndoom, before Singed lost his mother, how did he act around her?" Houndoom flinched, but nonetheless answered. "He was . . . well, he was such a momma's boy. He always wanted to help her, and he'd play with me only when he was done helping."

Serperior grinned, that was what she was expecting. "Without her, he lost all respect for his own life. He wanted to avenge her death, not caring that he was going against a Pokémon similar to a dragon. Just by saving him, by being there for him, you gained all of that devotion." Serperior gently wrapped her tail around the Houndoom, taking care not to squeeze her too hard.

"Both of you had grand intentions, it was never meant to turn into the obsession it became. Both of you stopped caring about yourselves, and in return devoted everything to your partner. Because both of you willingly gave so much to the other, you both were happy no matter what was around you, and woe to those that dared to intervene. You two became so intertwined, you forgot who was who." Houndoom flinched as she looked up at Serperior.

Serperior smiled as she ended her speech. "It was necessary to separate you two, so you both could learn who you were. YOUR wants intervened with HIS, so while at first he was happy, he soon realized what he had done. You did the right thing, Houndoom, and the boy has become the man that before he never believed he could be." Houndoom smiled at Serperior then they looked back inside as they heard a "_**FRIEND!**_"

As the foolish doctor that had tried to remove Munna gave up, Serperior chuckled. Houndoom grinned as she looked at Serperior. "So he got a Munna after all, huh?" Serperior chuckled, remembering how Singed had met Munna. "When he eventually came to be in the Dreamyard, Munna immediately went to work with his dreams. It was quite amusing when Singed got up, after what one Plasma Grunt told him he no longer believed he should be around Pokémon."

Serperior chuckled as Munna gave a content 'friend' when the doctor left the room. "I know not what thoughts got Munna to believe Singed was its friend. But that's exactly what Singed needed, a friend who refused to let themselves believe otherwise. Even the one word Munna can say-friend-was a perfect match for someone who could no longer define the meaning of that very word."

Houndoom nodded as she looked back inside the window. Serperior sighed, now it was time to find the answer to that which vexed her. "I was quite surprised by your sudden appearance." Houndoom gave a slight chuckle. "Mightyena and I were arguing when I heard the roar. I took one look up, and I saw the blasted Charizard. I took off without another word. Mightyena followed, arguing about it the WHOLE way."

Serperior nodded, then sighed. "That beast . . . I wonder what _his_ story is. What thoughts could justify attacking a boy like that?" Houndoom gave a slight grin as she looked up at the sky. "I know that Singed tried to kill it, after he tried to run away from me. I know that he left it with a scar, but . . . I still can't figure it out. Even then . . . Singed was just a young boy."

"Oh, that's an easy one." Both Serperior and Houndoom turned as Mightyena walked up to Houndoom, subtly glaring at any human that dared to look at him wrong. "I can certainly justify attacking a human. You're precious _human_ was only the first on its list, it _was_ going to go after the other humans. I _still_ . . ."

Mightyena shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Eventually, he sighed as he looked through the hospital window. "I just don't understand. He's one of _them_, feared even by his own kind yet . . . yet you _refuse _to believe he is bad. Look Houndoom, we've stayed in this area _far_ too long. The _savages_ are getting restless." Houndoom shook her head as she put her foot down. "No. I _won't_ leave! Singed was there before you were, _Mightyena_. He means too much to me."

"_**WHY?"**_ Both Houndoom and Serperior flinched as Mightyena's question reverberated through the air. Mightyena was clearly frustrated, and soon began pacing as he tried to figure it out. "It doesn't make any _sense!_ I want to know how one of those _despicable savages_ has your complete devotion! Are you _blind_? All these _despicable_ things do is get your hopes up, make friends with you, _say_ that they will always be there for you, and then"

Mightyena stomped the ground with his front left foot. "Then they _give_ you to some despicable person for a different Pokémon! She said I _meant_ something to her! Then just to prove a point, she _gave me away_! Not just to anyone, no, but one of those damn _Plasma Grunts_! Then my _new_ master used me for capturing more of my brethren while working me like a slave! Do you have _any_ idea how long it was until I broke that pokéball and was released from my prison? And now just _look at me!_"

Mightyena released a powerful snarl into the air. "She caught me in Hoenn! _This is NOT Hoenn!_ I can't find _any_ others of my kind, and the only other outsider I find, the only other one that SHOULD understand my anger, _she believes HER human cares for her!_ Even when he abandoned you for _who knows what_, you're STILL loyal to him! _I don't get it!_"

Serperior and Houndoom looked at each other in shock. So that was it. This was what Mightyena was so angry about, he felt _betrayed_. Serperior wondered . . . that Charizard . . . no, that wasn't important. Now Mightyena was the one that needed proof, and Serperior grinned. "He left her solely so she could be with you, Mightyena. If he had a heart of stone like you think, why would he face _me_ simply because he wanted to find _her?_"

Mightyena growled, but all three of them turned their heads when they heard the groan. The boy had finally woken up. Serperior grinned when she turned to talk to Houndoom, only to find Houndoom had vanished. As Mightyena and Serperior looked in the window, they heard the commotion quickly getting to the room. In almost no time at all, Houndoom had gotten into the room.

Singed smiled when he saw her, and soon Houndoom was on the bed, and Singed had his arms around her. While it was quite the sight to behold, Serperior focused her gaze on Mightyena's baffled eyes. Serperior almost chuckled then leaned in close to Mightyena. "It's not often there's a person that will do _anything _for their Pokémon, it's quite a sight isn't it?"

The Mightyena looked at Serperior with clear confusion, but when they heard hooves hitting the ground Mightyena groaned. "_Again?_" Serperior grinned as she turned to see Blitzle and ST's Rapidash racing through town. Serperior shook her head in amusement, Blitzle was _determined_ to beat Rapidash in a race. When Rapidash reached the planned end-point LONG before Blitzle would have, Blitzle stomped the ground in frustration. Rapidash snorted in amusement. "Do you give?" Blitzle shook his head. _"Never!"_ As the two of them went back to the starting point, Serperior chuckled again.

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><p>Alright then, I guess this is TECHNICALLY the end of the first part. If I can get some feedback to if people like it or not, I may put on many more parts as well. I have a lot of ideas I want to try with Singed, and I'd love to do it but I also want to improve as a writer. To that end, I need to know what people like, what I need to work on . . . stuff like that<p> 


	26. Gotta Catch 'em All

I can't believe the story worked out so well! It's only a first draft, I believe that once I get more ideas I want to put in then I will start 'A Boy and his Houndoom', the revised version of this story. Hopefully I'll have improved in my writing style by that time. ANYWAYS, there is more to this story. I'm not just about to stop it there, now I want to continue the story. There's about a week skip here where Singed was recuperating from his almost-fatal injuries from the Charizard.

For those that are actually reading these author's notes, do you remember how I stated that Singed was MY character on the game, and an attempt to explain a more interesting background? Well, there are other pokemon on my character's team, so these parts will likely revolve around the encountering and subsequent catching of said pokemon. Once I have the story to the point that all my pokemon are included, I'll probably begin the new and improved story of Singed's past, present, and future. This current story will probably end as a cliff-hanger, but once I have the storyline all figured out for my second shot at this then I'll be able to give it a PROPER ending.

In case you were wondering, this entire story also functions as the foundation for the development of my skills as a writer. I wish to improve my writing style so it's more enjoyable to read, but to that end I require feedback. I apologize if my story has not reached people's expectations, but the only way I will be able to reach those expectations is if someone alerts me to what I need to do differently, what they want more of, what they want less of, and what things I need to stop doing.

(Wow, this is my longest Author's note yet.)

* * *

><p>ST grinned as he and Singed stood before the Pokémon Center. Singed gulped as he looked at ST, which got ST to silently chuckle. This was Singed's first day out of the hospital and with Serperior, Blitzle, Munna, and Houndoom's gentle insistence Singed was going to the Pokémart to learn about pokéballs. While he still had a clear dislike for them, he also understood that there would be times that having so many Pokémon out would be a bad thing.<p>

Because ST and Alder had warned the people inside beforehand that Singed was coming in, along with Serperior, Blitzle, Munna, and Houndoom, they didn't freak out like they normally did. Many of them kept their distance, but they didn't scream or run like normal. When Singed turned to look at the people running the Pokémart, ST shuddered as he saw the scar on the side of Singed's face. That Charizard had _really_ left a mark. Singed gulped as he walked up to the people, who grinned. "How _is_ it that you can be such a terror to society yet you lose your nerve when you're just _trying_ to ask about something?"

Singed gave a slight grin at that then gulped. "Ok . . . uh . . . I just . . . w-well, you know why I'm here." The man chuckled again before he spoke. "Oh, you aren't getting away with it _that_ easily. If you don't ask, we don't answer." ST could almost _see_ Singed try to power through his nervousness. Eventually, he sighed. "I want to learn about pokéballs." The worker grinned. "THERE we go! Now-"

As that worker was speaking, the other worker turned around in shock. "What the-_you again! _BAD Liepard!" ST flinched as a Liepard leapt over the counter, leaving quickly through the doors. As the worker grumbled, ST grinned when he saw the unusual pokéball in his hand. He already knew what it did, Alder, ST, the workers, and Singed's friends had all set this up beforehand.

As Singed looked at the door, the worker quickly threw the ball at Singed. ST went into a silent giggle fit when the ball missed its target, soon rolling across the floor. Fortunately, they had planned for that as well. As Singed's focus was on _that_ Mart Ball, the other worker threw a second one at Singed. Singed flinched as the ball hit him dead on the back of his head, but then he froze in place. His body turned into the same red light a Pokémon normally did, and the ball strangely froze in the air. The Mart ball opened, sucking the red light Singed now was into the ball.

The ball fell to the floor then started rolling around slightly as Singed was caught. ST, the workers, and even Singed's friends all burst out laughing (ST giggling silently). The Mart ball was pretty much a ball used to show a person what it was like in a pokéball. Because of its unique make, it had to be specially modified to not randomly suck in anyone who grabbed it, as such it could only catch a person if it was thrown at them. The worker with the better aim grinned at his companion. "Oh, don't worry. You'll get the hang of it sooner or later." His friend looked the other way, clearly embarrassed. "Hey, I'm blaming it on the Liepard. It got me by surprise!"

ST decided to be nice and grab the empty Mart Ball for the workers. It had gone all the way over by a bookshelf, but as he reached for it a slender cat-leg appeared from behind the bookshelf, aiming for the ball. ST quickly grabbed for the Mart ball, and his fingers closed around it. To his complete shock, the same Liepard from before leapt out from behind the bookshelf and lunged for the ball, closing its teeth around ST's wrist. ST yanked his hand back, losing his grip on the ball and causing it to fly back over by the counter.

As ST got up, the Liepard shot past him, snatching the ball quickly off the ground with its teeth then making a mad dash for the doors. As it got out, ST looked back at the ground and his heart froze. He saw a Mart ball rolling to a stop, and he had a sneaking suspicion that . . . As ST went over and pressed the open button on the ball, it swung open. It was empty. Liepard had just snatched the ball holding Singed! Houndoom reacted immediately, turning around with incredible speed and zipping right out of the doors. Serperior, Munna, and Blitzle weren't far behind.


	27. Kind of like Football

What a twist! Singed has been kidnapped by a Liepard! Will Houndoom and the other pokemon be able to work together and get Singed back? Find out in THIS chapter of 'Singed'!

Ok, now that I got that out of my system, enjoy the chapter. I feel bad that it's still rather short, but I'm still working on finding the way to embellish on chapters. A general tip, or a push in the right direction, would be appreciated.

* * *

><p>Liepard breathed heavily as he looked behind him. There was one dog Pokémon, a Serperior, a Munna, and a Blitzle following him. Liepard almost grinned. Let's see how well these Pokémon could follow him. Putting on a burst of speed, Liepard dashed for the trees. While the dog Pokémon, the Serperior, and the Blitzle sped up as well the Munna gave a cry of despair as it was left behind. Ok, one down and three to go. This shouldn't be hard.<p>

Liepard flinched as he heard the cackling of electricity, and looked behind him fast. The Blitzle was using Wild Charge! Liepard waited as the Blitzle began to speed ahead of its companions. Just before it could hit Liepard, Liepard turned and shot off in another direction, cringing as he heard the Blitzle slam into a tree. It was out of the chase.

When a green blur shot past Liepard, he flinched. He just barely got out of the way in time as the Serperior tried to use a powerful Leaf-Blade on Liepard. Dodging the angry serpent again and again, Liepard soon found himself forced to counter with a Slash to keep from taking the hit. As the two of them dueled, Liepard was also aware of the dog Pokémon racing up to the other side. Liepard flinched as the dog Pokémon breathed fire, with Liepard barely ducking under it to avoid the shot.

Fortunately, the shot hit the startled Serperior, which was forced out of the chase by the sheer power of the flames. If that hit Liepard even _once_, he would be out. Liepard focused all of his attention on the dog Pokémon, which growled at him. Liepard tried to shake it off of his tail, but every time he thought it was gone the dog would show up again, normally _just_ missing Liepard with either a Snarl or a Flamethrower.

Soon, Liepard realized the dog knew Odor sleuth. He cringed, almost dropping the Mart Ball before quickly readjusting his hold on the ball. With it safely secured in his teeth, Liepard refocused on the situation. The dog knew Odor Sleuth, Liepard would have to make it lose his scent. And of course . . . well, this dog was determined. Liepard was quickly found again and again by the dog, just trying to get it off of his tail even long enough to find a way to cover his scent wasn't an option.

When they reached a clearing, Liepard nodded to himself. He couldn't lose the ball, but he needed to lose the dog. Liepard turned around, ready to fight. The dog seemed surprised, but soon gave a grin. "A cat challenging a dog? This will be quick." Liepard glared at the dog as Liepard honed his claws. "You're not taking my prize from me!" The two of them charged, and as the dog tried to bite Liepard's leg Liepard began a Fury Swipes.

He struck once and as the dog was recovering from the first hit Liepard struck again. When he tried for a third time, the dog quickly evaded. When the dog tried to bite Liepard, Liepard quickly took his chance and Slashed at the annoying dog. To his shock, the dog fell almost immediately to the ground unconscious. Liepard grinned. He must have found a weak spot. After wading across a stream in hopes that the stream would get rid of his scent, Liepard dropped the Mart ball and admired his prize.

It looked quite a bit like a Master-ball, but with a different coloring scheme. The ball itself was black on top, red on bottom, and had a single, golden 'M' right above the opening mechanism. The line separating the top and the bottom held that same gold color. Liepard was really excited. It was a brand-new type of pokéball! Hmm . . . he wondered how good it would be at catching Pokémon.

Oh well, no way to know that one. It wouldn't work if HE threw it at a Pokémon. He never really understood how that part worked. Liepard only had time to hear a Sawk give a battle cry before he found himself on the wrong end of a powerful hit. The last thing Liepard saw for a while was a woman in a Plasma Grunt's garb then he blacked out. When Liepard woke up again, his head was throbbing. Ugh, what a _hit_. Was that a karate chop? It felt more like Liepard had just stepped in front of a train!

Wait, the Mart Ball! Liepard looked around, then sighed as he saw the ball a little distance off. But as he put his teeth around it, he froze. Liepard spat it out, why did it taste like . . . _paint?_ That was when Liepard saw the paint smearing. This wasn't the ball he had grabbed before! But . . . oh, that _Plasma Grunt!_ Had she truly thought Liepard would fall for that! The Mart ball was _his_, not hers! He would NOT stand for this!

Alright, he had to focus. Being a team Plasma Grunt, that _bitch_ would likely be headed towards . . . that 'secret' base of theirs. But as Liepard began to walk forwards . . . he began to wonder. Why did everyone want the ball so badly? Was it extremely rare? Liepard shivered in excitement at that thought, there was _nothing_ more he loved then getting extremely rare objects to add to his collection! This Mart Ball would be the crown jewel of his collection, he had to get it back!

* * *

><p>Will Liepard be able to complete his collection? What does Team Plasma want with Singed and how the HELL do they know he's in the ball in the first place? Or DO they know that he's in the ball in the first place? Will Houndoom and the others manage to find out where Singed has been taken? If you took every 't' from every book in the Harry Potter series and found the total number of them, would the number of 't's be greater than the total number of 'i's from every book in the Harry Potter series? WHERE THE HELL IS MIGHTYENA? Some, all, or none of these questions will be answered in the next chapter!<p> 


	28. Friend or Foe

Happy New Year! I decided to celebrate by slaving away on my computer, making the next chapter for Singed's story. No need to thank me, I had fun making it.

So Singed has ended up captured by Team Plasma. Ever the watchdog, Houndoom isn't going to let ANYONE stand in her way to save Singed from his unknown fate if Team Plasma succeed with whatever the hell they are doing!

* * *

><p>Houndoom let out a groan as she got up. That little <em>cat!<em> How _dare_ he do that? Houndoom immediately sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent of the blasted creature. She sighed in relief when she found the scent she was looking for. It was still relatively strong. She hadn't been out for that long.

"Ouch . . . ugh, what happened?" Houndoom turned and grinned when she saw poor, naïve Blitzle stumbling over to the clearing. She chuckled, remembering how Blitzle had foolishly . . . "The Liepard side-stepped you and you ran into a tree. Was that _really_ the best you could do?" Blitzle blushed furiously as he looked the other way. As Houndoom snickered, she turned to follow the scent from before.

"Oh, _you're _one to talk, bitch!" Houndoom turned and glared at Serperior, who had a menacing look of her own. "Just _who_ shot me with a flamethrower? You tarnished my beautiful skin, you _traitor!_" Houndoom smirked at Serperior as Serperior slowly slithered towards Houndoom. "Oh, is _that_ what you call it? I personally think it looked better with that burn, it's such a shame it's already healed."

Serperior gnashed her teeth as she slithered around Houndoom. "I was the one that got close to defeating the vile Liepard. Then _you_ decided 'oh, I'm going to open my mouth and shoot a flamethrower at the SAME enemy the Royal One is fighting close-ranged, what could _possibly_ go wrong?'" Houndoom chuckled before she gave her response. "That's your own fault. If you had simply moved out of the way, then it wouldn't have hit you. Now, if I had been told _beforehand_ that you freeze in fear when you see fire, then I would have taken that into account!" Serperior gave a hiss towards Houndoom, but then sighed.

"Whatever. We'll find out who is to blame later. Right now we need to find out where that Liepard ran off to. Now I don't mean to cast your reputation into ruins, but isn't this the _second_ time you got beat? And by a _cat?_" Houndoom tilted her head up as she let out a powerful flamethrower. "_Shut up! _That blasted thing got lucky! The next time I see that _thief_, he is going to _die!_"

Serperior chuckled for a bit but then shook her head. "Either way, Singed is in trouble right now." Houndoom flinched, how . . . how had she _forgotten _that? Singed was stuck in that ball, alone . . . Houndoom immediately sniffed the air, then turned around and sprinted off in the direction that she caught the scent from.

When Serperior suddenly appeared next to her then they heard a confirmation from Blitzle behind the two of them, all three of them soon went back on the trail of the thief. Houndoom continued to use Odor Sleuth to find whether they were on its trail, and it wasn't long before Houndoom screeched to a stop as they reached a roadblock. Serperior and Blitzle dashed right through it before the two of them suddenly turned around and looked inquisitively at Houndoom. Houndoom blushed when Serperior suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh, this is BEYOND hysterical! You mean to tell me The Queen of the Lone Wolf is afraid of _water?_"

As Serperior went back to laughing, Houndoom blushed even more. A _stream!_ How was she supposed to get across it? She was _fire-type_, damn it! No, she had to calm down. It was too wide to jump across, she could get wet! Singed was on the other side of this stream, there was no time to search for a better place to cross. Let's see here . . . ok, maybe-maybe she could find something to work as a makeshift ramp and go on from there? Yeah, there-there had to be something.

"So, are you giving up?" Houndoom flinched as she found that Serperior had crossed the stream back, and was now looking at Houndoom with a grin that Houndoom didn't like. "Wipe that smirk off of your face and get your head out of your ass! I can't help that I'm fire-type!"

Serperior laughed as she slithered over to the stream. "You know, perhaps _I_ could help you? Being _grass-type_ and having no fear of water, I can cross it with ease." Houndoom damn near used a snarl on the vain serpent, but then suddenly found her way across. Innocently, Houndoom looked past Serperior, focusing intently on the path behind Blitzle. Blitzle frowned as he turned around, and Serperior tried to follow Houndoom's gaze. That was what Houndoom was waiting for.

Before Serperior could realize the trick, Houndoom used Serperior as a ramp and leapt over to the other side of the stream. She sighed in relief as her feet touched dry ground, it had been the extra boost she had needed. Houndoom chuckled as she broke into a sprint, until Serperior darted past her and tripped her. "**You **_**peasant, **_**how **_**dare **_**you touch my royal coat**?" Houndoom chuckled as she faked a flamethrower, getting Serperior to give her a generous distance. "Would you rather I _burn_ it? Now let's get going!"

Serperior glared at Houndoom, but soon the three of them were dashing towards the Liepard again. Houndoom continued to sniff the air, giving them directions as she did. When Houndoom stopped again, the other two looked at her curiously. However, Houndoom was trying to figure out . . . but he had _left_ after . . . "Mightyena's nearby, in the same direction." Serperior flinched, and for the first time in a bit she spoke softly to Houndoom. "Hadn't he said he was going to find his way back to Hoenn?" Houndoom nodded. "Yes. But there's no mistaking that scent, Mightyena's nearby." Soon, Houndoom shook it off. Singed still needed help, he was the priority. "Alright, I'll see to him later."

Soon the three of them were back on the trail, but as they reached a clearing Houndoom shouted for them to stop. She couldn't believe what else she smelt. "It's . . . I remember that smell, it belonged to a Plasma Grunt. And more importantly" Houndoom sniffed the air again, and confirmed it. "Liepard's scent is coming from that same direction. It can't be. Does team Plasma have something to do with Liepard's stealing of Singed?" Serperior frowned. "We'll figure this out later. Right now, which way?"

Houndoom pointed them in the right direction, and soon they were off again. As the three of them made their way there, they suddenly heard the sound of a horse galloping. Houndoom looked back just in time to get out of the way as ST's Rapidash charged past them, ST on its back. Rapidash snickered at Houndoom's glare. "Oh, well. Maybe I'll hit you next time." Still Rapidash slowed down enough for Houndoom, Serperior, and Blitzle to keep up. When Houndoom heard a 'friend', she realized Munna was in ST's arms.

When Mightyena's snarl rang through the air each and every Pokémon screeched to a stop. Houndoom soon gave a low growl as a Plasma Grunt flew onto the path, rolling to a stop right in the middle of the path and dropping-THERE IT WAS! As the Plasma Grunt shook her head Houndoom leapt forwards and snatched the Mart ball before the Plasma Grunt could.

As the Plasma Grunt called out a strange blue Pokémon wearing strange clothes, Houndoom got ready to fry it with a flamethrower. Right when she was about to fire, she remembered the Mart Ball was in her mouth! Quickly setting it down and to the side, Houndoom fired the flamethrower at the Pokémon before it could even flinch. The instant the blue Pokémon fainted Houndoom turned back around to pick the Mart Ball back up, just in time to see Liepard's tail slip out of view as the Liepard made off AGAIN with Singed!

"_**YOU!**_" Houndoom took off immediately, following the foolish Liepard as it went farther into the forest with the Mart Ball in its teeth. When Houndoom heard the sound of rushing water, she screeched to a stop as the Liepard dashed across a stream. _Not this damn stream again!_ The Liepard snickered as it stood on that side of the stream, lazily shaking its hindquarters at Houndoom. "What's the matter? Afraid of a little water? Oh, boo-hoo. I feel so sincerely sorry for you. It's such a shame you can't cross the water-"

Houndoom had had _enough!_ She opened her mouth and let loose a powerful flamethrower, striking the startled Liepard right in the hindquarters. As the Liepard was blasted into a tree and knocked out, Houndoom got ready to leap over the stream. Hopefully she wouldn't take too much damage if she missed by a few inches.

But as Houndoom's feet left the ground, she heard a crackling sound behind her, and turned her head to find the Plasma Grunt riding on the back of a Zebstrika. The Zebstrika was cloaked in electricity as it charged wildly into the stream, intercepting Houndoom and throwing her straight up into the air before it reached the other side, snatched the Mart Ball and lightly tossed it to the Grunt on its back. Houndoom closed her eyes as she began to fall downwards. She was going to land _right _in the middle of the river!

"_**MIGHT!**_" Houndoom's eyes flew open as the powerful Snarl altered her course, causing her to crash onto land, the side that she had been intending to jump onto. As Houndoom got up, noting her aching muscles caused by the powerful strike from the Zebstrika, she heard Mightyena charge through the stream as well to get over to her. "Are you ok, Houndoom?" Houndoom looked up at Mightyena, and sighed in relief. "Th-thanks."

Mightyena gave a grin as he nodded over to the still-unconscious Liepard. However, Houndoom wanted to figure this out first. "Weren't you going to find your way back to Hoenn?" Mightyena gave a grin before he shrugged. "I'm still hoping you'll open your eyes, Houndoom. From what I understand, your _master_ has gotten exactly what he deserves. You could-" Houndoom didn't wait for Mightyena to finish. She fired a powerful flamethrower at Mightyena, who only _just _dodged it.

"FIRST of all, he's my _friend!_ SECOND of all, he does _not_ deserve this, I am worried _sick_ about him, and if you so much as _grin_ at the idea of him being stolen by Team Plasma, I am going to make you _regret_ ever meeting me!" Mightyena frowned as he paced a circle around Houndoom. "Houndoom, I'm only concerned about you." Houndoom gave a low growl as she spoke. "So is he. Unlike _you_, Singed would listen to me!"

Mightyena got Houndoom by surprise when he slammed his front left foot against the ground. "That's _it!_ I have had it with you and your defending of a _human!_ You don't even realize you're just being _used_! I won't let it happen! You better hurry Houndoom, because if I get that damn ball first I _will_ dispose of it!" As Mightyena took off into the forest . . . Houndoom couldn't believe it. Mightyena was . . . Houndoom couldn't believe it. He wouldn't actually . . . _would_ he?

"Oh, that one hurt." Houndoom turned as the Liepard got up, shaking his head. The instant Liepard saw Houndoom, he slipped into the forest without another word. This was getting bad. Singed was in Team Plasma's possession, this Liepard was after it, and now Mightyena was an enemy. How . . . Houndoom shook her head, she had to-

"Houndoom." Houndoom turned in shock as Serperior, Blitzle, Rapidash, ST, and Munna appeared. Serperior seemed to be curious, but Houndoom sighed. "That damn bitch got the ball again. I don't . . . Mightyena's after the ball too, but we can't let him get it." Serperior froze for a bit before she spoke again. "Very well. If it comes to it, I'll hold Mightyena off. I won't make you fight him." Houndoom gave a slight smile before she sighed. As she sniffed the air, she nodded to herself. "This way" Houndoom took off into the forest again, eager to free Singed.

* * *

><p>What a SHOCK! Mightyena has declared himself Singed's enemy, and now Singed has FOUR different forces after him for their own gain! There's Team Plasma, who's motives as of yet are unknown, then there's Houndoom and Singed's friends, whose motives are VERY well known, then there's Mightyena who in a startling twist of fate is now intending to deliberately make Singed disappear forever, and finally there's Liepard who's motives are vaguely hinted at but in the whole unknown.<p>

I'm having fun with this now, so I'm going to keep this first draft going for now. HOWEVER, I would like you to know that an outline for the second draft is well underway. I would just like to say that the second draft has quite a few major plot changes and additions. There, that's it for spoilers. If you feel I have spoiled the second draft for you, please refer to the fact that the second draft will be based off of this one, so in reality I most CERTAINLY have spoiled some major components of the second draft.

Oh! Before I forget, I have something . . . uhm . . . what was it? I know it had something to do with Team Plasma . . . damn it, I forgot. Well, if I think of it I'll put it in the next chapter's author's notes


	29. Fourway battle for the ball

Can it be? Oh my god, it IS! It's a new chapter of Singed's story! YES, the jerk who has way too much time on his hands finally got off of his lazy ass and did some WORK for once!

Alas, this story is nearing its end. But have no fret, the second draft of Singed's story shan't be too far behind the end of this one.

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><p>Jill grinned as she watched the trees passing by. Zebstrika had come through for her again, he certainly had his uses. After she was certain she had time, she looked closely at the ball in her hands. So this Mart Ball held Singed, huh? What a fortunate twist of fate, Singed was at her mercy. It was time to pay him back all the damage he caused to her and the rest of the Plasma Grunts.<p>

Jill quickly put away the ball as Zebstrika neighed. She turned around, and flinched as a horse with a mane of fire appeared, ST on its back. "You're going to have to speed up Zebstrika, whatever this thing is it's gaining on us!" Zebstrika gave a 'Zeb' of what was clearly confirmation since Jill felt the increase in speed. Yet try as Zebstrika might, the horse of fire got closer and closer. Eventually, Jill realized they were going to have to speed up even more. "_**Faster!**_"

Zebstrika sped up more, and to Jill's relief it matched the fire-horse's speed. Ok, crisis over for now. It looked like the other Pokémon weren't fast enough to keep up, so it was mainly this fire-horse and it's trainer that she had to worry about. Let's see, she needed a way to slow them down. As she saw a tree with a large branch, she told Zebstrika to zap off the branch and get her close to it.

Zebstrika complied with a shockwave, and got close enough that Jill was able to grab the branch. Not missing a beat, she whipped it over at the fire-horse, getting a solid hit on its front right leg. The horse's leg gave way and as it and its rider slammed into the ground, soon going into a roll, both Jill and her Zebstrika snickered. Hopefully that would make the trainer think twice about meddling with Team Plasma.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, and Jill grinned as they reached the hide-out. As they screeched to a stop, Jill leapt off of Zebstrika and returned him to his pokéball. With a cruel snicker, Jill looked at the Mart Ball in her hands. After entering the base, she soon went to an interrogation room and labeled the room as 'occupied'. With a grin, she pointed the ball at the other side of the room and it opened up. The white light erupted from it, soon forming Singed's shape before Singed fully rematerialized.

Jill chuckled as Singed looked at her, until she realized . . . he really didn't look that surprised. No matter, he wasn't slipping away from this. As she commanded him to sit down in the chair on his side of the table, he surprised her by obliging. No, it still didn't matter. "I'm sure you are baffled at the moment, Singed." Singed gave a slight grin as he looked at her. "No, I'm honestly not. I can certainly say I know why and how I got here."

Jill frowned as Singed's grin turned cruel. "I'm here because during the 'explanation', a Liepard kidnapped the Mart Ball. After my friends tried and failed to get it, YOU ended up with it. When you saw Houndoom, you called out a Sawk that looked quite a bit like the one I fought. Because there was no point in faking that you didn't know it when it battled me, it makes sense that you went back and caught it after I left the area." Jill grinned, so Singed wasn't the moron she had labeled him as after all. "So why are _we_ interested in the ball, can you tell me that?"

Singed chuckled before he nodded. "You personally hold a grudge against me. Houndoom and I have attacked countless numbers of Plasma Grunts, the reason I'm here is quite clearly because you have had enough of me and wish to be rid of me. In short, I'm going to be trapped in the ball. You are going to use me as leverage against Houndoom, and force her to work for you." Jill couldn't believe it. Singed _did_ know what they were going to be doing, yet . . . yet he was still grinning.

"How can you say this with amusement?" Singed chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Oh, believe me. I understand that you could come to this conclusion, but what you don't understand is that it's not just Houndoom anymore. My life may be in their hands, but then again my life is rarely anywhere else. I know they'll come here and rescue me, because that's how they work."

Jill chuckled cruelly. "Pray tell me, why would they rescue _you?_ You're nothing more than a menace to society, there are _hundreds_ of people that want you either in jail or dead." Singed shrugged. "I don't pretend to understand it myself. I have no answer to why they care, and yet in my times of need they keep on appearing. Isn't that what a friend is, someone who's there for you when you need it?" Both of them looked up as the alarms went off, and Singed chuckled. "Now what did I tell you? Turns out they're already here."

Jill lost her patience with Singed. She held up the Mart Ball and fired the red beam of light at Singed, returning him to his prison. She then got up, fuming in anger. How the _hell_ could people want someone so stupid back! Singed didn't care about anything, it was clear he likely didn't even care about his Houndoom. Now though, it was time to throw off his pursuers. As Jill slipped a thin metal ring onto the mart ball, sealing it shut, she then left the room. After a quick conversation about whether their 'surprise' was ready yet and getting a 'yes', Jill and a few other Plasma grunts ran to a specific room.

This room was practically empty, used as a storage room. And just as the earlier Plasma Grunt had promised, the surprise was ready. Jill grinned as she opened up the crate, grinning as she saw all of the painted pokéballs in it. Each one was painted to look like a Mart ball, the small band that would seal it included. This would keep the fools distracted long enough to get the ball put in a place they would never find it. As Jill turned around, she flinched as she felt a long furry tail bat Singed's Mart Ball out of her hand. She turned around just fast enough to see a Liepard leap into the box of fake Mart Balls, this stupid cat again!

When the Liepard resurfaced, clenching Singed's Mart Ball in its teeth, Jill introduced its face to her fist. As it dropped the ball in shock, Jill quickly swiped the ball. She grinned as the Liepard leapt out of the crate, dashing back into hiding just before slipping out of the room. Almost the instant she was gone, footsteps approached from the other direction. Jill grinned as she feigned digging through the crate, so as ST, his Pokémon, Houndoom, and surprisingly a Serperior and a Blitzle entered the room it appeared Jill had hidden the ball in the crate. As she grinned and dashed out of the room, Singed's 'friends' began the fruitless search for which ball was the right ball.

Jill chuckled as she and the other grunts got away. As they climbed a set of stairs, Jill was taken completely by surprise as a Mightyena suddenly leapt down from the upper floor, clamping down on Jill's wrist with its powerful jaws. As Jill dropped the Mart Ball, the Mightyena followed up by picking up the ball and, to Jill's shock, _crushing_ the ball with its powerful teeth.

Jill was completely shocked. The Mightyena was . . . wait. Didn't every type of ball have that safety release feature, where if the ball was crushed the Pokémon-or person-inside of it would be released? Yet . . . Singed hadn't appeared. It was certainly possible the safety release feature had failed, or wasn't even implemented on a Mart Ball, but still . . . as Jill picked up a piece of the mart ball and looked it over, her heart froze when she saw a slight smear of paint on the ball. But . . . _how_? This wasn't Singed's Mart Ball! She couldn't believe it, how . . . _when was the switch?_

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><p><em><em>I know you're probably confused to what the hell happened, so I'll level with you. In the next chapter, I will tell you not only who the culprit is, but I shall also tell you how they did it. As for now, I shall leave you gnashing your teeth in frustration. Cause I'm cruel. Then again, you may already know where Singed's ball is. If you do, I pray you do not give spoilers to the other people who are reading the story.


	30. Reunited?

I bet you thought I wasn't going to make another chapter. Well ok, I was kind of . . . I'm almost to the end of the story now. My prediction is that there are going to be two more chapters. But don't feel bad, I'm going to begin working on the second draft RIGHT away after I finally wrap the first draft up. Let me just tell you, the second draft is gonna be even MORE amazing. I am SO proud of the outline I've made for it.

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><p>Liepard grinned as he held the ball in his teeth. The grunt had fallen for it, <em>yes!<em> Like Liepard would have been stupid enough to knock the ball into the crate, it had landed _behind_ the crate! He couldn't believe how well that one worked! He had pulled off a successful steal and now he had a brand new type of ball for his collection. Liepard couldn't wait to get back to his hiding place. Hopefully no one would be able to catch up to him there.

But as Liepard dashed through the area his teeth scraped against something . . . new, something metallic. Soon Liepard stopped and spat out the Mart Ball, looking it over. His eyes narrowed as he saw a new metal band around the ball, that _bitch_ had marred the ball's beauty with a metal ring! Liepard couldn't have that happen now, could he? Liepard aimed carefully at the metal band, using slash again and again. It took over ten minutes of work, but soon he had managed to get the band off of the ball.

As soon as it was off, Liepard flinched when he heard a growl behind her. He turned around, and was startled to see a DIFFERENT dog from before. It growled the word 'Mightyena', so that was it was called, but . . . Liepard gulped as he walked backwards. Her left hind leg suddenly pressed in the button on the ball. Liepard turned around and watched in stunned silence as the ball opened. _There was a Pokémon already in it?_

As the white light came from the ball, Liepard was completely shocked as a . . . as a _human_ appeared from the ball! What was going on, a pokéball couldn't even be _used_ on a human! There was . . . this wasn't POSSIBLE! Liepard gulped as he realized why everyone was going after him, he had . . . oh, boy. Liepard gulped as he started to back away from the person, he-he hadn't _known! _Whatever the man was going to say to Liepard, Liepard never got to hear. The Mightyena moved fast, and soon the startled human was busy struggling with the Mightyena as the Mightyena attempted to . . . Liepard's eyes went wide as he realized what was going on.

The Mightyena was trying to bite the human's neck. It was trying to _kill_ him!Liepard moved fast when the Mightyena managed to pin the boy. Before the Mightyena could follow up with a bite, Liepard slammed into the Mightyena and knocked it off of the boy. Liepard gulped, he couldn't just let the boy die! Liepard had gotten him _into_ this position, if the boy died then Liepard was practically guilty of _murder!_ As the Mightyena got back up, Liepard shivered in Mightyena was . . . intimidating.

The Mightyena gave a low growl at Liepard "I am giving you _one_ chance. _Move_." Liepard gulped as he stood his ground, and the Mightyena's growl turned even more savage. "You were even HELPING me a few seconds ago! You got him away from his allies, he's at our mercy. I am _getting_ my vengeance on him no matter _what!_" Liepard gulped as the Mightyena dashed at Liepard. Liepard tried hard, but it was no use. He was too nerve-wracked by how _intimidating_ the Mightyena looked to use his full strength. The fight between them was short and brutal, ending with Liepard slammed into a tree. Mightyena grinned as he looked cruelly at Liepard. "I'll deal with you after I'm done with this pathetic _human._"

Mightyena turned towards the human as Liepard attempted to force himself to his feet. He couldn't let the boy die, Liepard had gotten the boy into this situation, he had to . . . but even as Liepard told himself that, he felt his body shaking. There was no way he'd be able to stop, or even _hinder_ the Mightyena. The boy himself frowned as the Mightyena closed in on him. "If you're trying to win over Houndoom, I _assure_ you that this is _not_ the way to do it."

Mightyena grinned cruelly at the boy. "I forgot, you are capable of understanding our language. This isn't me trying to win over Houndoom anymore, _Singed_. I know she will hate me after this, but that doesn't matter anymore! She will be _free_ from your despicable actions, she'll finally be able to make her own decisions, and _she will be your slave no longer!_"

Liepard watched in horror as the Mightyena got ready to lunge. However, the boy-Singed, as the Mightyena had called him-spoke to Mightyena. "She has never been my slave. Don't you understand? She's my friend, she's part of my past, she's all of my present, and I pray she shall be part of my future. I understand that you have been hurt Mightyena, and I understand that your intentions are truly honorable . . . but I just can't let myself die here. I wouldn't be there to defend Houndoom if I died."

The Mightyena chuckled cruelly at Singed. "Bullshit, you don't even defend her the way it is _now!_ _Where_ did I find her? I found her unconscious, battered and bruised from a Serperior's Leaf Blade. Then, to add insult to injury, _what_ was it that you did after you 'told' her that she could go with me? _You make friends with the very Serperior that wounded her!_" Liepard saw Singed's eyes contract, Mightyena had found a weak spot. As Mightyena slowly approached, Liepard wondered . . . eventually he nodded to himself, he knew what he had to do. "You're _wrong._"

Both Singed and the Mightyena looked back at Liepard, who took a deep breath. "That Houndoom . . . she hounded me almost the entire time I fled. It took me actually attacking her to get her to finally stop, and even _then_ it didn't last that long. She was dead determined to get him back. She doesn't believe he betrayed her, she wouldn't have tried so hard to get him back if she had." Singed gave a smile at that. Mightyena growled savagely at Liepard, getting his own thoughts across to Liepard helping Singed. Liepard sighed as he stood up. "I would _never_ have taken the ball if I had known that it was actually in _use!_ All I wanted was the _ball_!"

Singed smiled at Liepard. "I understand. I've never been angry at you." With one more smile at Liepard, Singed turned to face Mightyena. "Mightyena, I won't pretend to know your past. I don't have a clue why you hate humans so much, but all I can say is that . . . well, we both want the same thing. We both want Houndoom to be happy. I . . . I _may_ become a trainer after this whole thing blows over, but I'm going to do my best to keep from treating my teammates as tools. Alright?"

Mightyena growled at Singed as he made it clear he didn't agree. Singed sighed as he shook his head. Just when Liepard thought Mightyena was going to attack Singed, they all heard a yelp and the sound of a powerful hit. As all three of them turned to look, both Mightyena and Singed's eyes went wide as the very Houndoom they were talking about flew into the clearing, slamming into a tree and falling to the ground. "_**HOUNDOOM!**_" Singed caught both Liepard and Mightyena by surprise when he dashed over to his fallen comrade and kneeled at her side. "Houndoom, are you ok?"

Houndoom got up slowly, clearly hurt. "_S-Singed! Y-you're ok!_" Singed gave a slight smile as he stayed at Houndoom's side. "I can't say the same for you though. Who did this to you, Houndoom?" Houndoom didn't need to answer. Every head turned when they heard a cruel chuckle, and Liepard was shocked when he saw the same Plasma Grunt from before walk into view. The woman was grinning cruelly as she walked into the clearing. "For a criminal hiding in the forest, you're not hard to find Singed."

Singed gnashed his teeth. "I can handle you insulting me. I can handle you torturing my mind, I can _tolerate_ you kidnapping a Pokémon, and because it wasn't truly your fault, I can _tolerate_ you sending out that Charizard. _But I will be __**damned**__ before I let you touch a single piece of Houndoom's fur unpunished!_" Singed charged at the woman, who chuckled. "Are you certain you want to do that?"

About when Singed got within five feet of her, he froze as they heard a Sawk's cry. Liepard turned to see the same Sawk from before standing above Houndoom, poised to strike her. Singed immediately froze in place, his eyes opened wide. As the woman chuckled cruelly Singed glared at the Sawk. The woman walked into the clearing, speaking calmly. "I suggest you try to not piss me off, Singed. Houndoom may not find it too comfortable."

Liepard watched as Singed gnashed his teeth, clearly thinking about what to do. Eventually, he nodded to himself. "I guess I was wrong before." As the woman frowned at him, Singed looked at the Sawk. "There's no way that you are the same Sawk I fought before. That Sawk was pissed off that I had gotten too close to its training grounds, there's no way he would let himself get caught. From what I understand, _that_ Sawk would fight its opponents hand to hand instead of make a hostage situation. But I guess it makes sense."

Singed looked at the Sawk, a cruel grin on his face. "After all, didn't _I_ beat that Sawk hand-to-hand? I mean, if you _were_ that Sawk then I think you'd be pretty pissed off, and would want a rematch. Unless of course you were worried that I would beat you _again_, proving how weak you are." It was only when the Sawk charged that Liepard realized what was going on. Singed was getting Houndoom out of harm's way by mocking the Sawk, tricking it into attacking _him_ instead!

As the Sawk struck Singed, Liepard realized just _how_ much Singed was sacrificing to keep Houndoom from getting hurt more. Still injured from his fight with Mightyena, Singed's reaction time had been dulled, his strength was fading away. This Sawk was now infuriated, and it continued to strike Singed again and again, even though Singed was clearly incapable of keeping up with its speed.

Liepard quickly focused on Mightyena, who was watching the beat-down with complete shock. Liepard could see the battle going on in Mightyena's head. His mind was trying to figure out what Singed was gaining from this act. He was trying extremely hard to keep himself convinced that Singed was cruel, but he was clearly losing the fight. Liepard turned when he noticed the Plasma Grunt picking something up, and he paled as he realized what was about to happen. "She's got the Mart Ball, she's-"

But it was too late. As Singed turned his head, the recall beam hit him directly on the forehead. As he was sucked back into the Mart Ball, the Plasma Grunt chuckled cruelly. "So ends your reign of terror, Singed." As Liepard watched in shock and horror, the woman put a metal band on the Mart Ball, which Liepard now realized was used to keep the person inside from being able to break free. As she recalled her Sawk, the evil woman chuckled again. "Alright, now this is going to the bottom of the ocean."

"_**No!**_" Everyone turned in shock as Mightyena charged at the woman, biting the arm holding Singed's ball. Liepard paled as he heard bone cracking, and the woman screamed in pain as she dropped the Mart Ball. As the woman retreated, Mightyena charging after her, Liepard limped over to where Houndoom was standing.

"I'm so sorry." Houndoom looked at Liepard in shock, wincing as her injuries aggravated her. Liepard took a deep breath before he spoke again. "I-I had no idea the ball was in use, I-I just wanted to add it to my collection! I . . . I have one of every type of Pokéball, and I . . . I just wanted the Mart Ball because I had never seen it before!" Houndoom cocked her head before she gave a slight smile. "So that's it. Alright, I'll make you a deal. I get Singed, you get the ball." Liepard smiled as he grinned. "Deal" With that settled, they turned to walk towards the ball. Both of them froze as they saw the empty ground before them, soon stuttering in shock. "H-how? W-who grabbed it? Th-this can't be!"

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><p>What a SHOCK! Mightyena, Liepard, and Houndoom are all tolerating each other now, Jill is currently being <em>mauled<em> by Mightyena, but someone _still_ managed to get the ball? Who is it? Will Singed find himself at the bottom of the ocean after all? For once, these questions _will_ be answered in the next chapter.


	31. Saying Goodbye

I just . . . I can't believe it. I put SO much effort into this last chapter, and it didn't even hit 1,000 words? Good GRIEF! I was thinking that I MUST have hit almost double of what this turned out to be, that's just not FAIR! Sigh, whatever. It's a first draft, so it's alright for the chapters to be so short. In the second draft, I'm setting a minimum amount of words that can be posted, at the very least 1,500.

So in case you didn't catch it, this WILL be the last chapter. My first draft is OFFICIALLY done. Don't worry, I'll get to work on the second draft quickly. While I'm working on it though, I'm also going to be working on a different story, a Naruto fanfic. As such, it MAY take me a tiny bit. MEANWHILE, this being the completed version of this one, feedback would be nice. Do you like longer or shorter chapters, do I need to be more detailed with each separate character so you can picture them better, just what am I doing wrong and how do you think I could do better? Don't comment on the number of loose ends on this one, I know they're there.

SO, without further ado, here's the last chapter.

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><p>The Yamask hugged the Mart Ball tightly as she flew through the forest. If she had a heart, she knew it would be beating so fast that it would be impossible to tell one beat from the next. She felt the tears flow from her eyes, she wept at Singed's terrible ordeals . . . but she also felt joy. His nightmare was finally over.<p>

Yet as Yamask flew through the forest, soon finding herself just about to go into Nacrene city, her own nightmares haunted her. Would he remember her? After all he had been through, could he remember her face? She had been so horrified to see the monster he had become, but that monster no longer existed. Singed had finally let go of his pain, and Yamask was so worried that him seeing her would cause it to come back.

Eventually, Yamask decided that it didn't matter. She had come this far, she couldn't back down now. But even as she entered the city, attracting many stares and whispers, her fears continued to haunt her. What was going to happen? The Singed who she now held in her arms, trapped within the Mart Ball . . . this wasn't the same little boy she knew.

Not that it was a terrible thing. Singed always had been a sad and lonely child, letting very few see his pain . . . she still couldn't believe that the same Singed that had stepped off of that ship, that had come here to the very spot Yamask had grown up as a human, was the same Singed she once knew. Even more shocking was this new Singed, who was more a mix of all of the Singed's she had seen so far. This Singed was ready for the world, ready for the cruel nature of the world yet able to appreciate the wonders that appeared with it.

Yamask soon flew over to the Pokémon center. There she saw all of Singed's friends, besides for Houndoom, Mightyena, and Liepard, speaking to each other. The sight brought tears to Yamask's eyes, Singed now had formed friends. Again her fears haunted her, had she ruined the entire thing by finally revealing herself? Or would he not recognize her, and mistake her for a Pokémon that had just decided to help? She didn't know which one would be worse, turning him into a monster or not even being recognized.

Once she built up her nerve, she floated down to the group. As Alder and the others noticed her, Alder smiling as he held out his hand . . . it was the hardest thing Yamask had ever done, to give him the ball. Then again . . . that _smile_ on Alder's face . . . did he recognize her? As Yamask watched with fear and hope, she heard as Houndoom, Liepard, and Mightyena dashed over there. Yamask soon found that Houndoom _certainly_ recognized her, she smiled at Yamask with tears in her eyes.

When she heard the Mart Ball open, Yamask turned around quickly. There he was, Singed stood there with his red eyes and his wild brown hair. His eyes were entirely focused on Yamask, she quickly realized that Singed indeed recognized her. But what she didn't see was . . . all she saw was his complete shock. Eventually, she sighed as she looked away from him. _Had_ it been a mistake to intervene, should she just have passed on without him even realizing she had been watching him for so long?

That was when she felt the arms wrap around her as Singed gently hugged her. She looked up, and found that just like her own, Singed's eyes were tearing up. She turned herself around and returned the hug. At the very least, she believed he deserved that much. Singed looked down at Yamask's form, a large smile on his face. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Yamask eventually got a hold of herself, telling Singed that she had to go on. To her surprise, Singed smiled again. "I know. Can I just say what the world denied me? I can rest easy now." Yamask cocked her head, but nodded. Singed smiled, and what he said shocked and touched her to no end. "Goodbye. I'm so sorry I caused you so much grief in life, please . . . please forgive your foolish son." Yamask smiled, tears flowing from her eyes yet again as she embraced her son. It was a while before she could make herself let go, but before she let herself pass on she said one last thing. "I'm so proud of you Singed."

As Yamask faded away, as her surroundings began to darken, she sighed in relief. That was the truth, she was so proud of the man her son had become. What would he do now? Yamask smiled as she felt herself enter the spirit world. Singed would do what he had once told her he wanted to do. He'd become a Pokémon trainer.

_***Epilogue***_

Singed smiled as he left the Pokémart, six pokéballs in hand. As he 'caught' Houndoom, Serperior, Mightyena, Blitzle, Munna, and finally Liepard, he felt a large grin appear on his face. Soon, Munna, Houndoom, and Mightyena were all out of their pokéballs. As the four of them smiled at each other, Singed began his trip back to Striaton city. It was time to follow in his mother's footsteps. Singed would prove his worth, he would _prove_ that Pokémon and humans could live together in peace. He would show the world that he has what it takes to become a Pokémon master.

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><p>And so the first draft ends. I already know the day will come where I will have improved so much that when I look back at this I will blush furiously and put a bag over my head in shame. Oh, well. The first draft's always the most difficult one to finish, in my opinion. HOWEVER, the second draft's outline is coming along well. Again, I canNOT stress this enough: feedback would be appreciated. I may be able to improve by myself with each draft, but I believe I'll be able to improve MUCH faster by knowing what people think.<p>

So as for now, Singed's story has been finished. I have to admit I'm not really a fan of this ending, so it MAY be edited. Like a LOT. But no matter if it's edited or not, this WILL be the last chapter, and I'm going to put it as 'complete' for now.

Update: 3/2/12

It has come to my attention that there are people who, in fact, do not know my second draft is already being written. Not only that, what I have finished of it so far is on

Look for 'A Boy And His Houndoom'. If it's no trouble, I would be very grateful for some feedback. Do you think that I've improved since I started writing this?

Update: 6/12/12

Disregard the above update. HUGE changes are being made to the story, so I had to take it back down. I'm working hard on the overall plot, although I want to finish my other stories before I start working on the NEW second draft of A Boy And His Houndoom.

Update: 12/7/12

*Sigh* I'm getting sloppy. The first chapter of the new and hopefully improved A Boy And His Houndoom was uploaded about a month ago.


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